Greece’s transmission operator ADMIE announced Thursday it had has submitted a formal investment request to the regulatory authorities of Cyprus and Israel to develop an undersea cable that would link the power networks of the two countries to the European grid.
ADMIE, which oversees the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), filed the request under the European Union’s TEN-E Regulation that governs cross border energy infrastructure.
This development highlights the importance Greece places on the cable as a project of exceptional geopolitical and energy significance, and comes a week after French investment group Meridiam signed a deal in Athens to buy a majority stake in GSI.
ADMIE’s goal is to attract additional investors for the Cyprus-Israel leg of the cable, like the project’s first section (Greece-Cyprus interconnection) with Meridiam’s entry into the investment scheme.
The Greek power grid operator said the submission of the investment request is a prerequisite for launching the evaluation process by the competent authorities, in order to reach a joint decision regarding the allocation of cost between Cyprus and Israel, which will be recovered through the project’s regulated revenues.
