Greek undersea cable links Crete island to the Peloponnese

Holding Admie Ipto SA

03/07/2021 13:40

ATHENS, July 3 (Reuters) - Greece on Saturday linked the
island of Crete to the power grid of the Peloponnese peninsula
via an undersea cable, a major step in the country's drive to
cut its reliance on imported fossil fuel and boost renewables,
the country's power grid operator IPTO said. 
    The southern island of Crete, a popular summer holiday
destination for foreigners, has relied on polluting oil-fired
power plants that will need to cut production or shut down in
the coming years, in line with EU climate-change targets.
    The 380 million euro ($451 million) cable link to the
Peloponnese peninsula will help Crete cover a third of its
energy needs and build another 180 megawatts of renewables,
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted.
    IPTO will build a bigger 1 billion euro underwater power
link that will connect Crete to the mainland grid by 2023. That
project will be then linked to another cable that Cyprus, Greece
and Israel plan to build to interconnect their power grids - the
so-called Euro-Asia Interconnector that will cross the
Mediterranean seabed. 
    Greece has committed that 65% of its electricity will come
from green energy by 2030, more than double the current rate, to
help cut carbon emissions by 55%. 
    The country has worked on a plan to connect its electricity
grid to Egypt, where the cost of energy from solar parks is low,
Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said on Friday.


($1 = 0.8429 euros)

 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou, editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 2102214608;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))