Pictured from left to right: Dr. Mohamed El Sobky, former Executive Chairman of NREA, Gelsomina Vigliotti, Vice President of the EIB, Dr. Gaber El Dessouki, Chairman of the “Egyptian Electricity Holding Company”, Thomas Chrissen, Vice President of HVDC, “Hitachi Energy”, Leila El Hares, Managing Director of “Siemens Energy” for Egypt, Mohamed Amer, Global Head of Green Hydrogen and Ammonia and General Manager at SCATEC, John Karidas, CEO of the RES Business Unit of “Copelouzos Group”.
The Greek "Copelouzos Group" participated in the event "Energy Interconnection Europe-Egypt", organized by the Permanent Representation Office of the European Union in Cairo and the Swedish Embassy under the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU. John Karidas, CEO of Copelouzos Group's RES business unit, presented the key benefits and opportunities that the commissioning of the Egypt-Greece GREGY electricity connection will open up for Egypt and Greece, as well as for Europe as a whole.
The project for the construction of the Egyptian-Greek electricity connection GREGY is being developed by the subsidiary company of "Copelouzos Group" - ELICA S.A. Once completed, the interconnector will be able to transmit to Europe clean electricity produced in Egypt and other African countries via submarine cables using wind and solar farms. The total length of the project reaches the impressive 1373 kilometers.
According to Karidas, the electricity connection will help strengthen market integration, increase security of supply and increase the social and economic well-being of Egypt, Greece and a number of countries in Europe.
The project was presented in the presence of the Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Egypt Christian Berger, the Ambassador of Sweden to Egypt Hakan Emsgaard, the Greek Ambassador to Egypt Nikos Papageorgiou, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt Tarek El-Molla, representatives of international financial institutions and a number of official guests.
At the event, Karidas highlighted the positive effect that the commissioning of GREGY will have not only on the connectivity of South-Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, but also for the whole of Europe. The implementation of GREGY will allow the supply of green energy of 3000 MW from Egypt to Greece, and through Greece to a number of countries in Europe. This will help the EU to achieve the common goals of providing access to more renewable energy sources, decarbonisation and reducing dependence on electricity produced from natural gas. GREGY is a project that supports the Fit-for-55 and RepowerEU goals, as well as Egypt's strategy for a climate-neutral energy system.
Recently, GREGY received a definite vote of confidence from the governments of the participating countries - including Bulgaria. The project is in an accelerated development phase, with the implementation of the final technical studies about to start. The realization of the connection between Egypt and Greece will have a positive impact that goes beyond the borders of the two countries, with direct benefits for the whole of Europe.