Regulatory obstacles appear to arise in the plan of ADMIE and Italian Terna to upgrade the electrical interface Greece-Italy with an extra capacity of 1 GW.
It is a cable with a total length of about 300 km. The underwater section will extend 240 km long with a maximum depth of 1,000 meters. The new Greece -Italy electric interconnection will operate in addition to the existing 500 MW, which began its operation in 2002. The total investment reaches € 1.9 billion.
Earlier this year a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two managers, with the aim of implementing the project by 2033-2035. However, Italy’s Energy Regulatory Authority, Arara, expresses the concern that it makes no sense to be completed in the middle of the next decade.
Its calculations show that the greatest economic benefits for Italian consumers will emerge after 2040. Specifically, ARERA calculates a benefit of € 40-50 million from the operation of the cable for 2035, but € 140-250 million from 2040.
In addition, Arara asked Terna to re -evaluate the costs of the project. He added that at this stage it is preferable to qualify for investments in Italy’s northern interconnections.
Based on the above, it is not clear at this time whether the new Greece-Italy electric interconnection will be included in the new list of European works of common interest, PCI-PMI. The final decisions will be made later this year before the final list is published.