The largest grid interconnector project in history just took a big leap forward

The EuroAsia grid interconnector – the longest and deepest in the world – will connect Greece, Israel, and Cyprus. 

EuroAsia’s 525kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cable will be the world’s longest – it will run 310 km (190 miles) from Israel to Cyprus, and 898 km (558 miles) from Cyprus to Greece, for a total of 1,208 km (751 miles). That’s the same distance as between St. Petersburg and Berlin.

It will also be the world’s deepest grid interconnector: It will run across the Mediterranean Sea floor, with its lowest sub-sea point reaching depths of over 3,000 meters (9,843 feet).

The EuroAsia Interconnector will exchange up to 1,000 megawatts (MW) among the three countries and will be capable of increasing to 2,000 MW. That’s the equivalent of the electricity consumption of 3 million households.

The historic project will end the energy isolation of Cyprus and Israel, creating security supply and an energy highway between Europe and Asia. Pole One is expected to be completed in 2028, and Pole Two in 2029.

The section of the project that connects Greece and Cyprus just took another big step forward: Paris-based cable maker Nexans has been awarded the major turnkey contract valued at €1.43 billion.

Nexans will manufacture subsea HVDC Mass Impregnated cables in its factories in Halden (Norway) and Futtsu (Japan), and it will install them with its custom-made cable-laying vessels, Nexans Aurora (below) and Nexans Skagerrak.

Nasos Ktorides, CEO of EuroAsia Interconnector, said:

We are proud that after 12 years of hard work, the world’s longest and deepest subsea HVDC electricity interconnector built by Nexans will put Cyprus on the world energy map, while also ending the energy isolation of Cyprus, the last non-interconnected EU member state, and Israel.

Read more: This subsea cable maker is going to deliver 6 GW of offshore wind energy

Photos: Nexans; Diagram: By QuantumDeveloperTeam – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

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