Cyprus-Egypt-Greece highlight a new project for the region

/ Financial News / Friday, 23 October 2020 07:09

During the 8th summit that took place in Nicosia between the Anastasiades, Sisi and more recently Mitsotakis an agreement was made to set up a secretariat in Cyprus to coordinate the practical implementation of issues agreed between the three.

Aside the discussions on Turkey’s situation in the Mediterranean, the parties highlighted some positive news regarding the regional cooperation on establishing the East Mediterranean Gas Forum by seven participating states. This forum aims to jointly develop natural gas deposits as well as implement the EuroAfrica Interconnector electricity project connecting Egypt’s power grid to Europe, through Cyprus.

In their joint declaration, they “welcomed the signing of the statute of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which establishes the EMGF as a regional organization, based in Cairo, open to all countries that share the same values and objectives and willingness to cooperate for the security of the whole region.”

Despite the shaken relationship with Turkey, the three leaders are accepting of Turkey joining the forum, as long as it shared the same principles and values of the founding members.

Anastasiades, Sisi and Mitsotakis reaffirmed “the importance of the EuroAfrica project, as an electricity interconnector between the grids of Egypt, Cyprus and Greece, that promotes the trilateral cooperation and enhances the security of energy supply, not only of the countries involved but also of Europe.”

According to them, it consists of a 1,396km subsea cable, with a 2,000MW capacity costing over €1 bln to build by December 2023. This will create a highway for the transmission of electricity generated from gas from the eastern Mediterranean but also from renewable energy sources.

“The EuroAfrica electricity interconnector constitutes an important component of the strategy to accelerate the development of the eastern Mediterranean energy corridor as a new alternative source of energy supplies from the region to the European continent and vice versa.

We look forward to the swift signing by our respective ministers, of a memorandum of understanding [by the end of this year] which sets forth the framework of cooperation to enable the timely implementation of the project, reflecting our shared commitment towards this goal.”

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