Greek power grid operator secures loan for undersea cable

Holding Admie Ipto SA

10/03/2021 09:01

ATHENS, March 10 (Reuters) - Greece's power grid operator
IPTO said on Wednesday it had secured a loan from the European
Investment Bank (EIB) to build a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion)
power link that will connect the island of Crete to the mainland
grid.
    The 328 kilometre underwater cable with a 1,000 megawatt
capacity will be linked to another cable that Cyprus, Greece and
Israel plan to build to interconnect their power grids - the
so-call Euro-Asia Interconnector that will cross the
Mediterranean seabed.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2L60MU 
    The EIB has agreed to extend a 200 million euro loan to IPTO
with an option of an additional financing of 100 million euros
under a 20-year facility, IPTO said in a statement.
    IPTO already has a 200 million euro loan from Eurobank
 EURBr.AT , and will also use its own and European funds for the
project, which is expected to be built by 2023, it said.
    ($1 = 0.8413 euros)

 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou. Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 2102214608;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))