Greece, Cyprus to advance Israeli power line to Europe
The 2,000-megawatt cable, dubbed the EuroAsia Interconnector project, would ensure that nations including Greece, Cyprus, Israel and others in Europe and the Mediterranean basin have a regular power supply.
Greece and Cyprus have agreed to an Israeli request to lay a power cable to Europe via the two Mediterranean nations, their electricity authorities stated yesterday.
The 2,000-megawatt cable, dubbed the EuroAsia Interconnector project, would ensure that nations including Greece, Cyprus, Israel and others in southeast Europe and the Mediterranean basin have a regular power supply.
Israel has faced soaring power prices since losing its supply of Egyptian natural gas a year ago, following the revolution there. The supply became unreliable following the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. This week, Egypt announced that it was halting gas exports to Israel altogether.
Meanwhile, Israel has been drafting emergency plans to address expected power outages this summer.
Cyprus for its part has been facing severe power shortages since a disaster at a production plant last year. Following the incident, local authorities had to bring old plants back online in order to meet local needs.
Also, Europe as a whole is expecting power shortages in the wake of Germany's decision to shutter all of its nuclear power plants following Japan's Fukushima disaster.
The Israel-to-Europe cable will be built by the Israel Electric Corporation and PPP Quantum Energy, which is controlled by the Greek power utility and Cypriot companies. Israel and Cyprus signed an accord to lay the underwater cable in March. Yesterday's announcement was the official one.
This is the first stage in a process that would bring Israel electricity from mainland Europe.
At 540 nautical miles (1,000 kilometers ) long and lying at a maximum depth of 2,000 meters, the cable would be the longest in the world.
In Haaretz and Kathimerini
