Photo: IPTO
Greece is set to get its second high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power interconnection by the end of 2027, as Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or, in Greek, Admie) launched a tender for the installation of an underwater line between Corinth and the remote island of Kos.
The tender, a part of the plan for the interconnection of the Dodecanese islands to the mainland, includes two parallel cables of 500 MW each as well as two conversion stations, one on both ends. The length is 380 kilometers.
The budget is EUR 630 million for the lines and another EUR 789.1 million for the converters. Concessionaires will have 36 months to carry out the works.
Manousakis: Paving the way to utilize the full renewable potential of islands
After the line is completed, further works would be carried out to connect the nearby islands of Karpathos, Rhodes, Symi, Kalymnos, Patmos and Arkia.
The ultimate goal is to reduce carbon emissions and ensure the islands’ stable supply, which currently depends on costly diesel units. At the same time, they will be able to accommodate more renewable energy plants within their grid, alongside energy storage.
The Corinth-Kos connection will unite the Dodecanese islands with the mainland high-voltage system for the first time, paving the way for the full utilization of the onshore and offshore renewables potential of dozens of islands, said the transmission system operator’s Chairman and CEO Manos Manousakis.
All large islands to be connected by 2030
IPTO claims that by 2030 all large islands in the Aegean would be connected to the mainland, leading to a EUR 3.6 billion cost drop for electricity consumers in the period 2029-2053. Apart from the Dodecanese, the islands of the northern Aegean are also included under a different interconnection project.
It should be noted that IPTO is completing the HVDC interconnection between Attica and Crete, the country’s biggest island. It also participates in a project to connect Crete to Cyprus and Israel, the so-called Great Sea Interconnector.
The TSO aims to upgrade all existing links to neighboring countries as well as to build one through the Adriatic Sea, to Slovenia, and then Germany. The project is called Green Aegean.
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