Stathakis stands firm on ADMIE realizing Crete-Attica connection

The government insists on proceeding with the power interconnection of Crete and Attica without European Commission co-funding. This is made clear in a letter from Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis to Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, dated January 30.

In his letter the minister argues that Greece supports the realization of the project linking the island of Crete to the mainland power grid as part of the broader scheme to connect the networks of Crete, Cyprus and Israel, as designed and included in the list of the Projects of Common Interest (PCI), but only provided that the national section of the plan is implemented by an entity in which state-controlled Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) owns a 51 percent stake. Stathakis acknowledges that both Greece and Cyprus would benefit in many ways if the Crete-Attica project stayed in the PCI list. However, he...