IPTO announces provisional contractors for island substations

TERNA and a partnership comprising Nari and Electromec have been named provisional winners of a tender staged by power grid operator IPTO for contracts to develop substations at the Greek islands Folegandros, Milos and Serifos, all planned to be interconnected to the mainland grid by 2025.

TERNA was named provisional contractor for the development of substations on Folegandros and Milos, the first section of the tender, while Nari and Electromec were named provisional contractors for a substation on Serifos, the second section of the tender.

IPTO aims to have contracts signed for these projects by June. These two tenders are part of the fourth phase of grid interconnections linking the Cyclades with the mainland.

Interested parties faced a July, 6, 2022 deadline. A total of six companies or partners submitted bids for this tender, three for each section.

IPTO has already awarded contracts for the installation of subsea cables to link Folegandros, Milos and Serifos with the mainland grid. The winning bidders were announced by the operator last November.

Hellenic Cables was awarded a contract to install subsea cables from coastal Lavrio, southeast of Athens, to Serifos and from Serifos to Milos, two sections covering a total length of 170 kilometers and priced at 195 million euros.

The Prysmian group was awarded a contract to install subsea cables from Milos to Folegandros and Folegandros to Santorini, two sections covering a total length of 127 kilometers and priced at 150 million euros.

The 4th phase of the Cyclades grid interconnection is budgeted at 524 million euros in total, of which 165 million euros is being covered by the recovery fund.

Once completed, the 4th phase of the Cyclades grid interconnection is expected to reduce annual carbon emissions by approximately 150,000 tons, create grid capacity of up to 730 MW for the development of RES facilities in the region, and also significantly reduce public service compensation (YKO) surcharges added to electricity bills for subsidizing high-cost local power generation on Greek islands.