According to ADMIE Vice Chairman Ioannis Margaris, it is estimated that the company’s 10-year investment program will increase the capacity of the transmission system for green energy units to approximately 28 GW – from 17 GW today – overshooting the 25 GW target set by the National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK).
Greece aims to become a hub for the transfer of electricity produced by renewables in Africa and the Middle East to Central and Western Europe, amid a drive by governments to cut dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The idea is that green energy corridors will replace the pipelines that cross the continent from east to west and from north to south. The new sources of green energy for Europe lie in the south and across the Mediterranean Sea, in North Africa and the Middle East, and the route to Europe runs through Greece.
According to a recent study by ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for electricity, beyond the next wave of anticipated cross-border grid investment (23 gigwatts by 2025), needs exist everywhere in Europe, with a total 64 GW of additional capacity on over 50 borders by 2030. According to the same study, gas-based power generation would decrease by 75 terawatt-hours per year in 2040, while the avoided curtailment of renewable energy would reach 42 TWh per year in 2040.
Through its Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE), Greece has already launched two strategic international links which aim to reposition the country as a green energy corridor between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, namely the interconnection of Greece with Cyprus and Israel and the Greece-Egypt (GREGY) Interconnector. According to recent reports, Greece has proposed building a cable that will carry electricity produced by renewables to Austria and southern Germany where energy infrastructure is curbed by nature protection laws in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) region. According to Greek officials, the cable, which would have an initial capacity of 3 GW that could be ramped up to 9 GW, would run through Albania. The cable would then run through Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia before reaching Austria and southern Germany. Alternatively, a subsea cable would connect Albania to Slovenia and then travel to Austria and southern Germany. Greece is already interconnected with all neighboring countries, while ADMIE plans to extend existing interconnections on both sides of every border. Meanwhile, the Greek power grid operator is building a second interconnecting line between the systems of Greece and Bulgaria which will triple transmission capacity between the two countries. Furthermore, it is considering the construction of a second power link with Italy, with a capacity of up to 1 GW, thus doubling the electricity exchange capacity. Moreover, ADMIE is looking at launching a second electricity interconnection project with Turkey and Albania, as well as upgrading the existing link with North Macedonia, itself a hub in the Western Balkans.
“International connections are a crucial parameter in the diversification of Greece’s and Europe’s supply sources,” ADMIE Chairman and CEO Manos Manousakis told “Kathimerini”.
ngerov.ilit.bas.bg
He said that ADMIE is committed to opening “new and powerful energy corridors with Italy, the Balkans, North Africa and the Middle East that would render [Greece] a strategic energy hub and significantly strengthen its potential for clean energy production and export.”
Construction of the EuroAsia Interconnector, a 1,214 km submarine cable connecting the power grids of Greece, Cyprus and Israel, has received a 657-million-euro EU grant under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Budgeted at 2.5 billion euros, the connection will provide an output of 1 GW to the three countries during its initial implementation. The project also involves the construction of three converter stations, one in each country. Construction of the Cyprus station is set to start in the coming months. The project will be implemented in two phases: Once the connection with Crete is completed, an electricity link between Cyprus and Israel will be constructed by 2029. The project will end the East Mediterranean island’s energy isolation and, at the same time, enable energy transfer between the Middle East and continental Europe.
Greece-Egypt
The Greece-Egypt electricity interconnection is currently under study. ADMIE is closely cooperating with Egypt’s grid operator EETC to ensure the technical and financial sustainability of the project. Budgeted at 3.5 billion euros, the project is to be based on the so-called GREGY proposal submitted by the Copelouzos Group to the European Commission. A subsea cable, stretching 954 km from Egypt to the coast of Attica, promises to transfer energy with a 3 GW capacity, of which a third will be provided to local industries. The power line should be capable of injecting 700 MW into the Greece-Italy and Greece-Bulgaria electricity grids.
Attica-Crete connection progressing fast
Construction of the electrical interconnection between Crete and Attica is progressing at a rapid pace. The power link will bolster the southern island’s energy security and encourage the development of renewable energy projects. Some 170 kilometers of the first electric cable has so far been laid on the seabed. Additionally, 670 km of fiberoptic infrastructure has been installed. ADMIE plans to lay a second subsea cable extending to 335 km by the end of 2022. The aim is to complete subsea cable installation by mid-2023. Meanwhile, work is under way on the Santorini-Naxos interconnection in the Aegean Sea. By the end of 2022, the government will launch a tender on interconnection projects between Lavrio, in eastern Attica, and the islands of Folegandros, Milos and Serifos. These projects are expected to be completed by 2024. ADMIE has already completed construction of an undersea power line connecting Evia, Greece’s second biggest island, with the smaller Sporades island of Skiathos.
ADMIE is currently working to replace the electrical interconnection between Aktio and Preveza in Western Greece, while works to upgrade the link between Kyllini and the Ionian island of Zakynthos is to commence soon. ADMIE plans to spend some 100 million euros on modernizing Ionian Sea infrastructure by 2025. According to ADMIE Vice Chairman Ioannis Margaris, it is estimated that the company’s 10-year investment program will increase the capacity of the transmission system for green energy units to approximately 28 GW – from 17 GW today – overshooting the 25 GW target set by the National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK).
Source: https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1197094/greece-eyes-green-energy-c…