Israel, Greek Cyprus, Greece to build grid

NICOSIA - The Associated Press

Work on an electric cable linking the power grids of Israel, Greek Cyprus and Greece is on track to start in the first quarter of 2018 after Greek and Greek Cypriot regulators approved the project, an official has said.

Nasos Ktorides, who heads the EuroAsia Interconnector project, said on Oct. 16 that Israeli regulators are expected to give their approval next month.

The 1,520-kilometer undersea electric cable with a 2,000-megawatt capacity will be able to both receive and transmit electricity. Work on the cable is expected to last until 2022 and its first phase will have an estimated cost of around 3.5 billion euros ($4.13 billion).

The project emerged amid improved relations between the three counties, coupled with the discovery of gas deposits in the east Mediterranean that could be used to generate electricity.