ATHENS – Greece, turning back to coal to generate electricity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that roiled energy markets, is working with Italy on a plan to triple their power interconnection capacity by 2031 by building a 1 GW undersea line.

The CEOs of Italy’s Terna, Giuseppina Di Foggia, and Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or ADMIE) Greece Manos Manousakis spoke in Athens about accelerating the underwater cable project.

The feasibility study, completed last year, showed that the two countries’ interconnection capacity should be tripled by installing a 1 GW undersea line, said Balkan Green Energy News.

https://balkangreenenergynews.com/greece-italy-to-speed-up-second-submarine-electricity-interconnection-project/

The heads of the transmission system operators – TSOs and other top executives agreed at a meeting to launch the necessary studies in early 2024, Energypress reported. They plan to commission the interconnector in 2031.

The twin high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables between are envisaged to be accompanied by advanced voltage source converters (VSCs with a line running from Galatina in Italy, through Melendugno, on the Adriatic coast in Apulia, under the Strait of Otranto and Ionian Sea to Thesprotia, on Corfu.

A substation set to be installed in Thesprotia is planned to serve a new interconnection with Albania as well. The subsea section is planned to be 250 kilometers (155.34 miles) long, the report said.

Manousakis and Di Foggia also discussed the ways to expand and improve the electricity networks in Europe in line with the proposals tabled during an earlier event through the European Network of Transmission System Operators.