Commission questions geopolitical risks over Great Sea Interconnector

The European Commission has raised questions over geopolitical risks surrounding the construction of the Great Sea Interconnector, it emerged on Friday.

According to CNA, the Commission requested a teleconference over the Cyprus-Greece electricity connection via an underground cable, as stakeholders have branded it a sinking investment.

The call was held on Tuesday with representatives from the energy ministries of both Cyprus and Greece, as well as the regulators from both countries.

Additionally, Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (Admie) and French company Nexans which is constructing the cable, attended the teleconference.

The Commission sought to be briefed over Cyprus’ Energy Regulatory Authority (Cera) decision, which recently rejected the idea of imposing a €0.6 cents levy on consumers per kilowatt hour starting January 1, 2025.

Following Cera’s decision, Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (Admie) called the project not viable.

The levy would allow Admie (who is implementing the project) recover the €1.9 billion construction cost.

It prompted Energy Minister George Papanastasiou to say he was concerned the European Commission may withdraw its €657 million subsidy for the Great Sea Interconnector project.

A meeting was held on July 15 where Admie requested Cera to re-evaluate its decision, after it shared details of a study.

Cera is expected to issue its decision mid-August, CNA reported.

It added the EU Commission was following developments closely. The total cost of the construction amounts to €1.9 billion.

CNA reported the second question put forth by the Commission during the call was that of geopolitical risks surrounding the construction of the project, which concerns the governments of Cyprus and Greece.

On Tuesday, the House energy committee is expected to discuss the Great Sea Interconnector project, along with the Vasiliko LNG terminal.

Invited to attend the session are undersecretary to the president Irene Piki, Auditor-General Odysseas Michaelides, permanent secretaries from the foreign, finance, energy ministries; representatives from the legal service, senior Cera officials, the electricity authority, Natural Gas Public Corporation (Defa) and Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (Etyfa).