Egypt is set to lay down the foundation stone of the US $4bn EuroAfrica Interconnector project involving Egypt, Cyprus and Greece.
According to Energy expert Hani el Noqrashi, the billion dollar project is will start from New Borolus power plant in Egypt that will pump half of its production in a 2,000 MW subsea power cable to Cyprus and Greece.
“Egypt will be connected with Cyprus with a 498-kilometre long cable. Cyprus will be connected with the Greek island of Crete with a 879-kilometre long cable. Crete will be connected with Attica in Greece with a 330-kilometre long cable providing a connection to the pan-European electricity grid,” said Hani el Noqrashi.
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The laying depth of the cable will be up to 3,000 meters (9,800 ft.) under sea level in some area between Crete and Cyprus. It will have a capacity to transmit electricity in either direction. Annual transmission capacity is 17.5 Tw, much more than Aswan Dams annual production.
In 2014 Egypt suffered from heavy electricity blackouts. This pushed the government to take actions on the matter to prevent such future occurrences. They signed multiple power contract deals as a result there has been construction of a number of wind power plants, gas power plants and the most recent solar power park.
The country has now met it power needs and the 1,707 kilometer cable will transform Egypt to an energy hub for Africa and an electricity carrier for the European continent. It will benefit from exporting a high-value product as electricity to Greece and Cyprus.
