7 Greek energy mega – projects got the “green light” from the EU

Seven Greek “green” projects have officially received approval from the European Commission as projects of common European interest and mutual interest.

The new catalogue includes a total of 166 projects of common European interest and projects of mutual interest, more than half of which are set to be operational between 2027 and 2030. These projects mainly involve electricity, offshore, and smart grid projects.

The 7 energy projects

• The electric interconnection of Israel—Cyprus—Greece (known as EUROASIA Interconnector), which includes the following projects of common interest: Interconnection between Hadera (Israel) and Kofinou (Cyprus) and Interconnection between Kofinou and Korakia in Crete
• Hydrogen interconnection pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria, which includes the domestic hydrogen infrastructure in Greece up to the border with Bulgaria, and the domestic hydrogen infrastructure in Bulgaria up to the border with Greece
• Pipeline from the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas reserves to mainland Greece, via Cyprus and Crete (known as the EastMed pipeline), with a measuring and regulating station in Megalopolis.
• Electric interconnection between Egypt and Greece (GREGY Interconnector)
• Submarine CO2 storage in Prinos involves the transportation of CO2 emissions from Greece by pipeline and ship to Bulgaria, Hungary, Cyprus, Italy, and Slovenia.
• Amfilochia Pumped Storage.
• Ptolemaida Battery Storage Unit.

3 new projects in the list

Three out of the seven projects are new entries in the list

GREGY Electric Interconnection between Greece and Egypt

Given that it is a new addition to the catalogue, it is the approval of the Greece-Egypt electric interconnection, GREGY – Green Energy Interconnector. It is a project conceived and designed by the Copelouzos Group and the affiliated company of the ELICA Mediterranean Interconnector Group. This project will connect Egypt to mainland Greece through an underwater cable with a capacity of 3,000 MW and a length of approximately 950 kilometres.

The green and competitively priced energy that the cable will transport from Egypt to Attica will be generated from 9.5 GW of Renewable Energy Sources, which will be constructed and operated by the Copelouzos Group in Egypt.

The project is expected to reshape the country’s energy landscape, ushering it into a new, green era with significant economic and environmental advantages and Greece’s geostrategic value in the Mediterranean and Southeastern Europe. Its contribution to the national economy is also expected to be of crucial importance, as it will create numerous new job opportunities and business prospects for the Greek industry.

Prinos CO2

Another new project from Greece is the carbon dioxide storage development plan in Prinos, with Energean as the implementing entity.

The project is being advanced with the support of DESFA, which will create a pipeline network for gathering CO2 quantities and their transportation to the storage facility in Prinos.

Energean’s goal is for the storage facility to be ready to operate by early 2026, with an initial annual storage capacity of 1 million tons of CO2. In the next phase, with the full development of the project, the capacity will increase to 3 million tons of CO2. The project budget for achieving full capacity exceeds 1 billion euros. Carbon dioxide storage in Prinos will allow for the reduction of emissions in industries with significant production of greenhouse gases (e.g., cement production, metallurgy, power generation, refineries)

Hydrogen Interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria

It has a completion horizon in 2029 and a budget of approximately 1 billion euros. It involves the creation of a new hydrogen transportation pipeline with a length of 540 km, aiming to transport clean hydrogen, mainly from the southern part of Greece to the connection point with the National Natural Gas System in Bulgaria.

It is reminded that the joint project of the two operators, DESFA and Bulgartransgaz, involves a new ‘backbone’ of hydrogen pipelines totalling 790 km in Greece.

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