It is with great satisfaction that we were officially informed yesterday afternoon, through the announcement of the European Commission, about the approval of the application submitted by the Implementing Entity of the Project of Common Interest "EuroAsia Interconnector", of the electrical interconnection between Cyprus, Israel and Greece, to receive a grant under the European Financial Mechanism "Connecting Europe Facility" (Connecting Europe Facility).
Specifically, the Implementing Entity had applied for an amount of €687 million for construction works on the Cyprus - Crete leg, and the approval received from the European Commission covers almost all of this amount, amounting to approximately €657 million.
This sponsorship is the result of the hard work and cooperation of the Implementing Entity with the Ministry of Energy, as well as with other Ministries and Agencies involved, and is the most important step for the implementation of the project.
This sponsorship is the result of the hard work and cooperation of the Implementing Entity with the Ministry of Energy, as well as with other Ministries and Agencies involved, and is the most important step for the implementation of the project. Its securing makes it possible to start construction work on the Cyprus-Crete section, whose total cost is estimated at €1.575 billion.
It is worth noting that the amount of the grant for which the "EuroAsia Interconnector" has been approved is the largest ever secured for a project of the Republic of Cyprus, and represents the lion's share of the Connecting Europe Facility's budget for this call for applications for electricity interconnection projects, which totalled €785 million for 2021.
With the approval of the grant, a negotiation process between the Implementing Entity and the European Commission, which is expected to lead to the signature of the Grant Agreement between the two parties in the summer of 2022, will now start.
The implementation of the "EuroAsia Interconnector", for which, I recall, the Energy Ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding last March, is extremely important for the Republic of Cyprus. Apart from its obvious geopolitical importance, it ends our energy isolation, ensures the energy security of our country and contributes to the development of competition in the electricity market.
This project is also the cornerstone of our efforts to transition to a green economy, fully aligned with the policies we are implementing to protect the environment. Its completion will facilitate the attraction of relevant investments and, by extension, the integration of additional renewable energy projects into the energy mix of the three countries involved, Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
I note, for example, the studies carried out in the framework of our National Energy and Climate Plan, which show that electricity interconnection, combined with the use of storage systems, can lead to a penetration of RES in Cyprus' energy mix of more than 50% by 2030.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Energy Commissioner and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy for their continued support for this project and Cyprus' efforts to interconnect with Europe's single energy market. Finally, I extend special thanks to the Implementing Agency, the competent authorities of Greece and Israel, and, for all their dedication and hard work, to the officials of the Energy Department of our Ministry, as well as to the officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Directorate General for Development, who helped to include the "EuroAsia Interconnector" in Cyprus' programme submitted to the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. With the signing of the Grant Agreement, the project will be eligible for an additional grant of €100 million under the Recovery and Resilience Plan "Cyprus - Tomorrow".
(GA)
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