In July, the ministers agreed to create working groups that will advance joint electric, natural gas and hydrogen projects and connections. G.A.S., a research company based in Italy, was engaged for the route survey for the cable project in January 2016.Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz met with his visiting Cypriot counterpart, George Papanastasiou, in Jerusalem Thursday for a round of discussions on strengthening energy cooperation, particularly an initiative to connect the electricity grids of the two countries via an undersea cable.Ī statement issued by Katz's office noted that the two ministers are laying groundwork for agreements on the undersea electricity cable project ahead of the COP28 climate summit set for November this year in Dubai. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the stage one of the EuroAsia Interconnector project was prepared by Atlantis Consulting Cyprus in November 2016. The project is also eligible to receive grants worth half of the construction cost from CEF, along with additional financing facilities from the European Investment Bank and other EU institutions. The project will also play a strategic role in allowing the use of gas reserves held by Cyprus and Israel, along with renewable energy sources, to fulfil Europe’s internal energy requirement.ĮuroAsia Interconnector received 50% funding for the pre-works studies from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), in the form of grants. Running across the Mediterranean Sea, the power cable will also bring an end to the energy isolation of Cyprus, the EU’s only member state with no electricity or gas interconnection. With a bi-directional transmission facility, the cross-border interconnector will serve as a reliable energy bridge between Europe and Asia. The tender documents for the stage one construction of the project were issued in January 2019, while the Cyprus Government approved a 33-year land concession agreement for a HVDC converter station for the project in June 2019. The feasibility studies for the EuroAsia Interconnector project were initiated in 2012, while survey works on the sea-bed were initiated in January 2016.Įnvironmental approval from the Cyprus Government was secured in 2017, while three state leaders of Cyprus, Israel, and Greece extended support for the timely implementation of the project, in a trilateral summit held in April 2019. The interconnection between Crete and Attica is expected to be operational by June 2022, while the Cyprus-Crete and the Cyprus-Israel interconnections are scheduled for commissioning by the end of 2023.ĮuroAsia Interconnector project development details The transmission capacity of the EuroAsia Interconnector system is planned to be increased to 2GW by installing two more converter stations in Attica and Israel, at a later stage. The converter stations will convert electricity from DC to alternating current (AC) for feeding into their respective transmission grids. Each converter station will have an associated sea-electrode. The project will involve the construction of four voltage source converters (VSC) type HVDC convertor stations, one each in Israel, Cyprus, Crete, and Attica. The lowest laying point for the cable will be 3,000m below sea-level in the Mediterranean basin, which will make it the world’s deepest under-sea cable. The length of the Cyprus-Crete segment will be 879km.įrom Crete, the interconnector will further run for 329km to connect Attica, in the mainland of Greece. From there, it will run westwards and again take a subsea route to connect Korakia point in Crete, the largest island of Greece. The EuroAsia Interconnector line will originate at Hadera in Israel and run for 310km across sea to connect Kofinou in Cyprus. The interconnector is expected to commence partial operations in 2022, while the full-scale operations of the phase one are expected to begin by the end of 2023.ĮuroAsia Interconnector route and design details Estimated to cost €3.5bn ($3.9bn), the first stage development of the interconnection project will have a transmission capacity of 1GW, which is planned to be increased to 2GW in the next stage.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |