CESI

Italian energy-engineering consultancy CESI (Centro Elettrotecnico Sperimentale Italiano "Giacinto Motta" S.p.A.) is the lead preparatory-engineering consultant on the Black Sea Submarine Cable Project, engaged across two sequential multi-year mandates from Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE). The 2022-2024 Feasibility Study covered Power System Studies (load-flow, stability and HVDC integration analysis for the GE-RO interconnection at ~525 kV bipolar VSC with electrodes), Economic Analysis (market and cross-border benefit modelling) and Financial Analysis (CAPEX, OPEX and revenue modelling supporting the investment case). The study ran from May 2022 to the 1 August 2024 board meeting at CESI's office where final outcomes were presented to GSE, Transelectrica, AzerEnerji, MVM & Mavir and the World Bank. A team of around 25 experts coordinated by Stefano Malgarotti and Alessandro Crippa recommended a 1,300 MW MI HVDC configuration over ~1,155 km (~1,115 km subsea, ~40 km onshore) with bipolar VSC converters at Anaklia and Constanta Sud, and concluded the link is technically and economically feasible. The 2026-2029 mandate, a new three-year engagement reported to have entered into force in February 2026, covers the Design, Procurement and Supervision of Seabed Surveys for the same route under the World Bank ESPIRE program. Scope spans technical design of the geophysical and geotechnical survey packages, tender support to contract the survey contractors and specialised vessels capable of operating in the Black Sea's >2,000 m water depths, and supervision of the resulting field campaigns. The seabed work is structured in two geographic phases: Phase 1 covers the territorial waters and EEZs of Georgia and Romania along the primary corridor; Phase 2 covers the EEZs of Bulgaria and Turkiye. Deliverables feed into the 2027-2028 ESIA campaigns and the project's reference design for permitting and FID.