French company to build subsea cable connecting electric grids of Israel, Cyprus, Greece

The Orot Rabin power station, seen from the Hadera Stream Park, Hadera, northern Israel, on November 25, 2017. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)
The Orot Rabin power station, seen from the Hadera Stream Park, Hadera, northern Israel, on November 25, 2017. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

Cyprus firm EuroAsia Interconnector says it has awarded French company Nexans a 1.43 billion euro contract for a submarine electricity cable to connect the grids of Cyprus, Greece and Israel.

The EU-backed high-voltage “electricity highway” is set to run for 1,208 kilometers (751 miles) along the Mediterranean sea floor at depth of more than 3,000 meters (9,850 feet).

Billed as the world’s longest and deepest interconnector project, it aims to “end the energy isolation” of Cyprus and Israel and connect both to the European mainland via the Greek island of Crete. It will have the capacity to supply over three million homes with electricity.

Cyprus, located in the eastern Mediterranean, now relies heavily on fossil fuel imports for energy but has vast potential to step up solar power production for eventual export.

“The world’s longest and deepest subsea HVDC electricity interconnector built by Nexans will put Cyprus on the world energy map, ending the energy isolation of Cyprus, the last non-interconnected EU member state, and Israel,” says Nasos Ktorides, CEO of EuroAsia Interconnector.

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