Cable Installation Start

PROJECTED ~2028 (back-calculated from 2030 COD): No cable installation start date has been published by IPTO/ADMIE for the Phase C Chios-Samos link because the EUR 1.7bn framework agreement tender for North Aegean submarine cables remains unsigned as of February 2026 (energypress 6 Feb 2026 reported "Eighteen months after the launch of the framework tender, contracts remain unsigned"). Three bidders (Fulgor/Cenergy, Nexans Norway, Prysmian Powerlink) submitted binding offers in February 2025 but no award has been made for the Chios-Samos segment specifically. Working backward from IPTO's 19 February 2026 statement that commissioning is now targeted for 2030 (one-year push from the H2 2029 RAE-mandated date) and applying typical lead times for HVAC submarine cable supply (~12-18 months from contract signing to first cable manufacture, ~6-12 months for installation campaign and 6-month commissioning window), cable laying for the 100 km 150 kV AC submarine link between Chios and Samos most plausibly begins in 2028. This projection is provisional and must be replaced with a published IPTO date once the cable supply contract is signed and a project schedule is released. Source: energypress 19 Feb 2026 IPTO commissioning slip; back-calculated by audit:n_aegean_phase_c 2026-04-14.