The EU has approved €757mn ($860mn) in funding for a project to link the power grids of Cyprus and Greece with a 1GW-capacity HVDC (high voltage direct current) cable. The 900km Cyprus-Crete line is part of the €2.5bn ($2.8bn) EuroAsia Interconnector plans that would also link to Israel.
Pledged EU funds – €657mn secured last week from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility and an earlier €100mn via the EU’s recovery and resilience facility (RRF) – equate to half the estimated total €1.5bn cost of the Cyprus-Crete link. No funds have yet been raised for the Israel-Cyprus leg, which is estimated to cost around €1bn. (CONTINUED - 161 WORDS)