![]() ![]() ![]() Papanastasiou said the EastMed pipeline, which has been under discussion between Israel, Cyprus and Greece for about a decade, had not been dropped but it faced challenges. ![]() "It's a win-win," he said in an interview on Tuesday. Lesser Cypriot discoveries are yet to enter into production and for Energy Minister George Papanastasiou, a nearly four-decade energy industry veteran, his new plan provides answers. The eastern Mediterranean has yielded major gas discoveries in the past decade, mostly off Israel and Egypt, with interest rising since Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit flows to Europe. Once in Cyprus, the gas could be converted to LNG and shipped to Europe. Rather than the 2,000 km (1,243 mile) EastMed pipeline to continental Europe, the new government is proposing a much shorter one linking Cyprus to fields off Israel. Proposals by the new centrist Cypriot government, which came to power in March, represent a markedly different approach to its predecessors in getting gas to Europe and other markets. The European Union recognized the Interconnector as a “Project of Common Interest” in 2013, and approved €14.5 million in financial support of the plan in 2017.Cyprus hopes to develop plans for a pipeline linking it to Israel's east Mediterranean gas fields during talks which start next month, the island's top energy official told Reuters. An IPTO official told Reuters that it has been working closely with Eurasia to ensure an efficient link between the sides.Īll three nation’s leaders reaffirmed full support of the EuroAsia Interconnector at a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and then-Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in 2016. The Greek IPTO power grid operator has already begun building the portion of the Greek island of Crete, which is expected to be finished in 2 years’ time. About 310 kilometers in length will link Israel and Cyprus, some 900 kilometers between Cyprus and Crete, and about 310 additional kilometers from Crete to mainland Greece. The cable will stretch over 3 three sections of the Mediterranean Sea. Both nations will perform important geopolitical roles of linking the eastern Mediterranean Sea with the European Union. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who was in Nicosia to sign a memorandum of understanding with his counterparts, said the project will provide a back-up power source in times of emergency,Ĭypriot Energy Minister Natasa Pilides called the project a “2,000 mega-watt highway,” and said it marked “a decisive step towards ending the island’s energy isolation, and consequently, our dependence on heavy fuels.”Ĭyprus is ultimately envisioned as becoming an energy bridge between Europe and Asia, with Greece transformed into a regional electricity and telecom hub. The 1,000-2,000 megawatt (MW) capacity, 1,500 kilometer long cable will traverse the Mediterranean seabed at a maximum depth of 2,700 meters to link the three nations’ electrical grids.Īccording to a statement from Israel’s Ministry of Energy, the EuroAsia Interconnector will be the longest and deepest subsea electricity cable in history with construction expected to be completed by 2024. The $900 million project is part of the EuroAsia Interconnector cooperation agreement signed between the three countries in 2012. The tripartite energy alliance between Israel, Cyprus and Greece has surged forward – following an agreement to work together to create the world’s longest and deepest underwater power cable. ![]()
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