Cyprus approves electricity cable to link its power grid with Greece’s - AP

Updated 9:10 PM GMT+3, September 17, 2024
By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus has given the green light for construction of a 1.9 billion euro ($2.1 billion) undersea electricity cable linking its grid with Greece’s, aiming to sharply reduce electricity bills and end its energy isolation, the country’s energy minister said Tuesday.

Minister George Papanastasiou said the significance of the project is underscored by the European Union’s decision to fund it with the sum of 657 million euros ($735 million).

He said the Cypriot government will contribute 25 million euro ($27.8 million) annually over the five-year period of the 1,000 MW cable’s construction so that Cypriot taxpayers won’t see any hike to their electricity bills as part of their 63% share of building costs.

The total 125 million euro sum will be raised from revenues generated from the EU’s emission trading system.

Israel-Greece-Cyprus energy deal ‘top priority’ this year - JNS

March 28, 2024 / JNS
Etgar Lefkovits 

The three allies plan to link their electrical grids and cooperate on natural gas.

Finalizing a major energy deal that includes connecting the power grids of Israel, Greece and Cyprus and a possible future regional natural gas pipeline linking the eastern Mediterranean allies is a “top priority” for 2024, the Israeli and Cypriot energy ministers said on Wednesday.

The long-awaited accord, which was stalled by the nearly six-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza, will not include Turkey. Ankara has reemerged as one of Israel’s bitterest critics in the wake of the Israeli military campaign triggered by the Oct. 7 terrorist invasion.

The expected agreement comes amid burgeoning relations with both Cyprus and Greece, which have maintained support for Israel throughout the war, and close ties in a variety of fields including energy, defense, tourism, high-tech and cybersecurity.

“Cyprus is a regional ally, and cooperation in the field of energy holds great potential opportunities for both countries,” Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said Wednesday as he hosted his Cypriot counterpart to finalize the accord.

Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Papanastasiou said, “Cyprus and Israel share a vision for the eastern Mediterranean with the countries looking at energy as a sector that can facilitate peace, stability and prosperity in the region.”

Greece, Cyprus, Israel plan trilateral leaders’ summit - JNS (JEWISH NEWS SYNDICATE)

February 27, 2023 / JNS

Etgar Lefkovits

A summit attended by the leaders of Greece, Cyprus and Israel is planned for later this year, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced Monday.

The gathering will take place amid burgeoning relations between Israel and both Cyprus and Greece over the last decade and a half in a variety of fields including tourism, medicine, cybersecurity, energy and military cooperation.

The decision to organize such a regional meeting was made during a Sunday night phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the president-elect of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides.

The two men discussed bilateral cooperation in various fields, a readout of the conversation said.

The Cypriot leader, who will assume office on Tuesday, offered condolences over Sunday’s Palestinian terrorist attack in which two Israeli brothers were killed. He is expected to visit Israel soon at the prime minister’s invitation.

EastMed: The US just stated the obvious - CYPRUS MAIL

January 16, 2022

Dr Charles Ellinas

• EastMed never was viable and technically it stretched the limits
• The world has moved on and it’s time we did too

The news last Monday that the US State Department finally abandoned the EastMed gas pipeline should not have come as a surprise – the US stated the obvious. Sadly, instead of this announcement attracting the openminded response it deserves, much of the publicity in the Greek and Cypriot press has been negative and in cases demeaning, preferring to conjure conspiracies behind it, rather than doing the obvious and simple thing: taking it at face value.

But these responses will not detract from the fact that the future is in clean energy and electricity interconnections, that facilitate electrical stability and wider adoption of renewables in a region that has the potential and can really benefit from transition to clean energy – and not in gas exports. That is exactly what I have been advocating for years now.