The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide grant financing to back the first studies for a 3-GW subsea transmission project between Greece and Egypt.
The lender on Wednesday announced the signing of a grant agreement with the project developer Elica Interconnector, part of Greece’s Copelouzos Group. The arrangement will cover a portion of the cost of the first two studies – one to determine the optimal routing of the submarine cable, and another concerning the cost-benefit and technical analysis.
Funds for the initial studies will come from the European Union’s InvestEU Advisory Hub, of which the EBRD is a key implementing partner.
Egypt–Greece electricity interconnection project (GREGY) calls for the installation of a 950-km (590-mi) submarine cable to carry electricity from roughly 9.5 GW of renewables to be deployed in Egypt, to Greece, and through Greece to the rest of Europe. Some of the produced electricity would be used to meet the needs of the Greek industry.
The green energy corridor is expected to help reduce natural gas consumption by 4.5 billion cubic metres and save 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
GREGY is included in the list of Projects of Common/Mutual Interest (PCI/PMI) of the European Union.
