Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, ADMIE Chairman and CEO Manos Manousakis rang the bell to stop the Greece-Cyprus-Israel electricity interconnector project (Greater Maritime Interconnector).
It is recalled that the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) announced that the recovery of ADMIE’s costs can only begin after the commercial operation of the project, i.e. in 2030, with the Greek side’s request to start imposing fees on consumers from 2025, not being accepted.
“If the decision of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority on the electricity interconnection with Greece does not change, the project will be stopped,” Manos Manousakis specifically said.
In detail, the president and general director of ADMIE points out the following:
“The decision of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority, announced yesterday to ADMIE, renders the Great Sea Interconnector project unsustainable. This decision overturns the previous decision on revenue methodology (RAEK 022/2023, 25/1/2023, Appendix 1), which was taken when the project was owned by the previous implementing body and on the basis of this ADMIE took the investment decision to become the implementing body of the project, in October 2023. This reversal creates a negative present value of over 100 million euros for the project. It creates a question of legal certainty for the investment and a question of confidence in administrative decisions and must be reviewed immediately for the project to proceed. We are in consultation with CERA to submit a request for review in the coming days.
Greece has already committed, through the RAAEF decision, to Greek consumers paying their share of the electricity interconnection during its construction, so that the project is sustainable. We also expect a corresponding decision from the Cypriot side.
The amount that Cypriot consumers are required to pay during the construction of the Crete-Cyprus electricity interconnection is just 0.6 euro cents per KWh, a cost that will be recovered by the reduction it will cause in electricity bills, already in the first year of operation.
I also want to make it clear that ADMIE has the financial strength to build the project, but in the circumstances created by this regulatory decision, no investor would become a shareholder.
Therefore, if the decision is not changed in the coming days, the project will be halted. This development would be particularly negative for consumers in Cyprus, as it would mean losing the opportunity to reduce the very high energy costs they currently pay.