Greece hooks up an undersea power link to Crete that's key to Mediterranean grid expansion

Key Points

• Greece has completed the 1 billion euro undersea power cable link spanning 330 km between the mainland and Crete, which is expected to be fully operational this summer.
• The European Union provided the bulk of funding through grants and loans to bolster energy diversification in Southern Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Athens plans to extend the connection to Cyprus and Israel by the end of the decade, forming the so-called Great Sea Interconnector to create an integrated Eastern Mediterranean grid.
• Officials say the link will enable Crete to replace fossil-fuel power with renewables, positioning the island as a central pillar in Greece’s energy transition.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece announced Monday it has completed the work on an undersea power cable link connecting the mainland to the island of Crete, a key step in its ambitious plan for a wider expansion of the grid in the Eastern Mediterranean that will eventually include Cyprus and Israel.

The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) link spanning 330 kilometers (205 miles) was plugged in on Saturday and is expected to be fully operational this summer, Greece’s grid operator said.

The project, for which the European Union provided the bulk of funding through grants and loans, aims to bolster energy diversification after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Athens hopes to extend the link to Cyprus and Israel — dubbed the Great Sea Interconnector — by the end of the decade.

The project is also a move toward Crete being able to replace fossil fuel-based power generation with renewables, government officials said.

“Crete is becoming a central pillar for the country’s energy transition,” Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou said. “We’re moving forward with the development of an integrated network of electrical interconnections, strengthening our country as a strategic energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

However, the wider project has been complicated by financial disagreements and ongoing maritime disputes between Greece and Turkey.

Greece and Egypt also want to establish a separate undersea link on a similar timetable that would bypass the island of Crete and connect directly to the Greek mainland, near Athens.

The undersea cables to Crete have been laid at a depth of 1,200 meters (nearly 4,000 feet) and will support a capacity of 1,000 megawatts using high-voltage direct current transmission systems.

Supervised by a subsidiary of Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator, the project involved private contractors Siemens Energy of Germany, Greek construction firm TERNA and the Italy-based Prysmian Group cable company, among others.