Seabed mapped for Greece-Cyprus power interconnection

Research ship Odin Finder, registered in Italy, finished the reconnaisance mission for the suitable route in the project of submarine cable EuroAsia InterConnector, which is planned to connect Cyprus and Greece, In-Cyprus reported.

The exploration and mapping along the 518 kilometres from Vasiliko in Cyprus to the Greek island of Crete and then to the Peloponnese and further to Piraeus, Athens. Italian company GAS Srl owns the vessel used in the first phase of the operation. Odin Finder will next research the section from Cyprus to Israel. The most difficult part is south of Vasiliko, in an area where there are dips in the seabed. The ship needs to find the route for the link towards the Cyprus arc, a bow-shaped depression.

The design for the EuroAsia Interconnector project is included in the European Union’s 195 Projects of Common Interest. Undersea cables are laid in trenches along the seabed to prevent their disturbance by ships’ anchors. The work is carried out by robotic technology. The first phase of the project involves connecting Crete with Athens and Cyprus with Israel, while the second phase will see the linking of Crete with Cyprus.

The EUR 3.5 billion project is for a 1,500 kilometres cable with a capacity of 2 GW, laid at up to 2,000 metres below sea level. The initiator is DEH ‒ Quantum Energy, a joint venture of Cyprus’s Quantum Energy and Greece’s DEH (Public Power Corporation – PPC).