The Greece-Egypt GREGY interconnector project is set to take center stage at the two-day EU-Egypt Investment Conference starting Saturday in Cairo.
The conference aims to discuss financing projects within the framework of the EU’s cooperation with Egypt.
Both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will attend, along with 1,000 participants, including financial institution representatives and heads of major investment groups and funds.
The GREGY project aims to bring an underwater cable from Egypt to Greece to transport electricity generated in Egypt, through renewable sources, to Europe.
The design, technical and investment studies of the GREGY cable project is run by a subsidiary of the Greek Copelouzos group, called ELICA SA.
The initiative’s total budget is estimated at around €12 billion, which covers the cost of constructing the cable that will transmit 3 GW of green energy from Africa to Europe via Greece, and the 9.5 GW of renewable energy projects set to generate the clean energy.
The mega-project is supported by both the Greek and Egyptian governments, as well as the European Union, which has included it in the its Projects of Mutual Interest list, which involves initiatives connecting Europe with non-EU countries.
Copelouzos Group founder Dimitris Copelouzos is set to present the GREGY initiative at the conference.
According to reports, growing interest has been expressed in in entering the shareholder base of ELICA. The process to expand the shareholder composition of the project implementation body is already underway.
Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO), owner and operator of the Hellenic Electricity Transmission System (HETS) is currently finalizing its proposal to participate in the project through a 33.3% stake. A Memorandum of Understanding between IPTO and ELICA was also signed with the intent to include the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) in the shareholder discussions.
According to reports, 24 companies have submitted Expressions of Interest to the subsidiary, for a first-round tender offering a contract to conduct studies on the project, regarding the optimal route of the interconnector’s subsea cable, as well as the delivering technical and cost-benefit analyses for the initiative.
ELICA is set to announce the shortlisted bidders next week.
