The agreement for the final leg of a Israel-to-Europe submarine power cable has been signed on Friday, the Financial Mirror reported.

According to Nasos Ktorides who is the project’s chief executive, the cable will have a capacity to carry 2,000 megawatts across 1,000 kilometres from Israel to Greece, via Cyprus.

“We already have interest from western European utilities to buy future contracts of our electricity supply,” the Financial Mirror citied Mr. Ktorides as saying, adding that the feasibility tests in Israel, Cyprus and Greece should be finished earlier than the end of the year, as was planned in the beggining.

Ktorides explained that the memorandum of cooperation with the Electricity Authority of Cyprus will see the operator, DEH-Quantum Energy, expand into joint production with the Cypriot utility in order to export the additional output beyond the island’s existing needs of about 1200 MW.

He stated that the DEH-Quantum Energy will totally finance the 1.5 billion euro cost to construct the cable, while income over the lifetime of the project is predicted to reach 17.5 billion euros.

Nasos added that the operator will also pay for the feasibility studies.

EAC chairman Harris Thrassou said that the EAC will also be involved in two phases of the process, the initiall will involve connecting the grid from Israel to Cyprus and from Cyprus to Crete. In the subsequent stage the EAC will take part in the coproduction of electricity with a view to conveying it, once it is able to take advantage of its natural gas supplies.

Subsea World News Staff , March 26, 2012;