Cyprus signs contract to connect Israel to the European power grid

The overall cost of the project is estimated at 1.5 billion euros, with the Israel-Cyprus segment put at 500 million Euros
 
The Cyprus state-owned electricity company signed an agreement for the final leg of a 1.5 billion-euro Israel-to-Europe power cable that should be operational by 2016.
 
The proposed EuroAsia Interconnector project would be, at 998 km, one of the world's longest underwater power cables, with a mere 1% loss.
 
According to the Israeli utility, it would have a capacity of up to 2000 MW.
 
The proposed line would extend from the Israeli city of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast to the southeastern coast of Cyprus, then to the northwestern coast of Crete and on to the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece.
 
The overall cost of the project is estimated at 1.5 billion euros, with the Israel-Cyprus segment put at 500 million Euros. Israel Electric officials said the investment would pay for itself within four years. The memorandum of cooperation with the Electricity Authority of Cyprus will see the operator, DEI-Quantum Energy, expand into joint production with the Cypriot utility in order to export the surplus output beyond the island's current needs of about 1200 MW.
 
Cyprus will need about 1b cubic meters a year of natural gas. The terminal will have a design capacity of 20b. The surplus production capability could be exported to Europe. The feasibility study is expected to be completed in 2012. DEI-Quantum said the project could be started in 2013 and completed within 36 months.