Nexans announced the successful completion of an undersea cable sea trial for the Great Sea Interconnector, setting a new world record by installing and testing the 525 kV HVDC mass-impregnated cable at a depth of 3,000 metres beneath the surface. Following recovery of the cable, comprehensive electrical testing and visual inspection confirmed the integrity of the cable system and its ability to perform under extreme deep-water conditions. This trial validates the cable technology for the Crete-Cyprus section of the interconnector, which at approximately 898 km will be the world's longest and deepest HVDC subsea cable. The cables are being manufactured at Nexans' plants in Halden (Norway) and Futtsu (Japan). While the sea trial demonstrates technical readiness, Nexans had earlier formally acknowledged that the delivery schedule is being renegotiated with customer IPTO, pushing the planned completion date into the next decade. The rescheduling follows a period of disruption including IPTO's freezing of €70 million in payments to Nexans in March 2025 and Nexans' cancellation of sub-contractor tenders in December 2025 pending project re-evaluation. Despite these delays, Nexans CEO Julien Hueber reaffirmed in January 2026 that the company remains "fully committed to supporting our customer in bringing this critical infrastructure to completion" and that mitigating steps allow the company to stay on track with its 2028 financial guidance.
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The Cyprus–Crete Interconnector is the point‑to‑point HVDC subsea segment linking Cyprus (Kofinou/Alaminos area) to Crete (Korakias/Damasta area). It is designed as a VSC‑HVDC transmission link and is conceived as the Cyprus–Greece component of a wider multi‑terminal programme that also contempla...
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Cyprus–Crete Interconnector, Great Sea Interconnector, GSI, EuroAsia Interconnector, Interconnection between Kofinou (CY) and Korakia, Crete (EL), PCI 2.6.2, PCI 3.10.2
As of 10 September 2025, the Great Sea Interconnector was at the bathymetric survey stage for the Greece–Cyprus offshore segment, but progress was hampered by a dispute between the Greek and Cypriot governments over project costs and Cyprus’s annual €25 million payments and regulatory decrees, with Greece signalling readiness to restart surveys under military escort while Cyprus sought survey completion first to mitigate geopolitical risk.
In 2024, an agreement was signed specifying that Cyprus must pay €25 million per year to the project promoter, Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO/ADMIE), for the Great Sea Interconnector. This arrangement secures an annual revenue stream for the promoter, with the first payment expected in 2025 if the project proceeds, and is central to the financial arrangements between Greece and Cyprus for the subsea cable.
In 2024, bathymetric (geophysical) surveys for the Great Sea Interconnector’s offshore section between Greece and Cyprus commenced using Italian survey vessels, but the campaign was disrupted when Turkish naval forces stopped the ships near the island of Kasos east of Crete.
By July 2024, the Greek power grid operator IPTO had completed a cost-benefit analysis for the Greece-to-Cyprus segment of the Great Sea Interconnector, with favourable results that strengthened the development prospects of the Crete–Cyprus interconnection and the wider 1,208 km project linking Greece, Cyprus and Israel.
Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) announced that construction of the cable section for the first leg of the Great Sea Interconnector, between Crete and Cyprus, has commenced, marking the start of installation of the 525 kV HVDC subsea cable on this 898 km segment plus an envisaged 25 km on land.
Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) indicated that Siemens had been chosen as the intended contractor for converter stations on Crete and in Cyprus for the Great Sea Interconnector, with plans to sign the construction contracts in the following year for the Greece–Cyprus section of the link.
Nexans was awarded a €1.43 billion contract for the Great Sea Interconnector to design, supply and lay the 525 kV mass‑impregnated HVDC subsea cable for the Crete–Cyprus section, with IPTO instructing the company to reserve production slots and having already paid an initial instalment under the deal.
On 7 July 2022, project developer EuroAsia Interconnector Ltd announced that Nexans had been selected as the preferred bidder for the supply and installation of 500 kV HVDC mass impregnated cables for the 1,000 MW Cyprus–Greece (Crete) link, forming the first stage of the electricity interconnection between Israel, Cyprus and Greece.
On 26 January 2022, the European Commission approved a €657 million grant from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the EuroAsia/Great Sea Interconnector, specifically supporting the Greece–Cyprus (Crete–Cyprus) section of the 1,208 km HVDC link. This largest-ever CEF grant for an electricity project underpins part of the approximately €1.57–1.9 billion budget for the Crete–Cyprus segment and contributes to integrating Cyprus into the European power grid.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the Great Sea Interconnector project, formerly referenced under the EuroAsia Interconnector PCI cluster, was updated and formally submitted to the Department of Environment on 17 October 2021 as part of the permitting process for the landing point and onshore cable route in Cyprus.
On 8 July 2021, the European Commission approved Cyprus’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, which includes €100 million of EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funding earmarked for the EuroAsia Interconnector, now known as the Great Sea Interconnector. This grant support is channelled via Cyprus’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan to help finance the subsea HVDC link between Israel, Cyprus and Greece, and is later referenced as a €100 million contribution from Cyprus’s plan to the project.
The Great Sea Interconnector, originally known as the EuroAsia Interconnector, was first conceived in 2010 as a major electricity interconnection project linking the grids of Europe, Asia and Africa, and has since gained backing from European institutions as part of planned electricity interconnections in Southeast Europe.
Siemens was engaged as a contractor on the Crete–Cyprus part of the Great Sea Interconnector to carry out studies for two converter stations, one on each side of the link, ahead of a subsequent contract to install the stations.
The Great Sea Interconnector, including its Crete–Cyprus section, has been designated by the European Union as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), placing it on the official PCI list of cross‑border electricity infrastructure. This status, noted in multiple sources, underpins substantial Connecting Europe Facility support for the Greece–Cyprus segment and formally recognises the interconnector’s strategic role in integrating Cyprus and Israel with the European grid.
Prior to its December 2023 construction announcement, Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO/ADMIE) had assumed the role of project promoter for the Great Sea Interconnector and acquired a 25% equity share in the project, with this change referenced as having occurred six months earlier and taking place amid discussions over bringing additional investors into the scheme.
In Cyprus, the EuroAsia Interconnector’s Cyprus–Crete link (now Great Sea Interconnector) secured key development consents for the converter station, specifically the Town Planning Permit and the Building Permit, meaning all necessary approvals and permits required before construction commencement in Cyprus had been obtained.
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