Greece, Cyprus and Israel to set up working groups

CYPRUS, Greece and Israel yesterday agreed to set up two working groups to expedite cooperation in energy matters.
The agreement was struck in Nicosia at a meeting between Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis, Israeli Minister of Energy and Water Resources Uzi Landau and Greek Deputy Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Asimakis Papageorgiou.
Speaking to reporters later, Sylikiotis said the issues discussed concerned the ‘EuroAsia Interconnector’, a project aiming to link Greek, Cypriot and Israeli power grids via a submarine power cable, as well as the southeast Mediterranean natural gas corridor.
“We have decided to set up two working groups to elaborate on the projects in detail,” Sylikiotis said, noting that the groups would be established in the next few months.
For his part, Landau expressed his satisfaction with the decision on the immediate establishment of the two working groups.
He said that cooperation would promote the interests of the three countries and their economies, and would be “an anchor of stability in this prickly region.”
The ‘EuroAsia Interconnector’ project, with an estimated budget of €1.5 billion, will be able to transfer energy with a total capacity of 2,000 MW. The completion period is estimated at 36 months from the start of construction, while the project’s study is expected to be completed within 2012. The maximum underwater installation depth will reach 2,000 m.
The project consists of three junctions, connecting Israel to Cyprus, Cyprus to the Greek island of Crete and from there to the Greek mainland, in Peloponnese, southern Greece.