Israel plans preparatory works on power cable
By Alexis Pantelides
Published on January 31, 2012
ISRAEL is set to commence preparatory works on the much touted project of an underwater electricity cable linking its power grid to that of Cyprus.
According to the Israeli daily newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau instructed the state electric corporation to draft a memorandum of understanding, which is to be signed by Israel and the Cypriot company DEI Quantum Energy.
The developments are part of the steps agreed by Landau and his Cypriot counterpart, Praxoulla Antoniadou, during the latter’s visit to Israel last week.
DEI Quantum Energy, a collaboration of the Bank of Cyprus, the Greek electric corporation and a Cypriot private firm announced last week that it was planning to lay a 2,000 megawatt cable linking Israel, Cyprus and mainland Greece at a cost of €1.5 billion.
According to the Israeli newspaper, Landau expressed his optimism that with the agreed schedule, the project could be submitted for approval to the Cypriot and Israeli governments within the year.
The project is estimated to be completed within 36 months from the day works begin and would seek to capitalise on recent natural gas findings by Cyprus and Israel and Europe’s huge energy demands.
“This is a psychological and diplomatic breakthrough that will affect Israel’s energy redundancy and energy security. We are very much interested in moving forward on the issue,” Landau said, according to a statement on the Israeli newspaper’s website.
Landau is credited with the idea of an underwater link of Israel and the European electricity grid through Cyprus and Greece back in November.
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/israel/israe ... e/20120131
I am willing to take on this project if someone will lend me the dosh.
If this cable worked to full capacity, it would make available to whoever is at the other end 17,520,000,000 kWh per year. In Cyprus at the moment if you take your total electricity bill (surcharges, taxes, and all) and divide this by the total number of units (kWh) that you have used, you will come up with a figure in the region of €0.26 per kWh (this varies a few cents either way depending on various things).
Now let's say that with the natural gas we and Israel have, we can generate power cheaply and sell it to the other end of the cable for just €0.10 per kWh, that would generate an annual revenue of, wait for it, €1.75 billion!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So as the cable operator I will charge 2 cents per kWh, providing an annual income of €350 million which will pay for my cable in less than 5 years, and then provide me with a very nice pension!!!
So who is going to lend me the money?
