Cyprus says progress seen in talks with Greece on multi-billion-euro electric cable link

There has been progress in talks between Cyprus and Greece on the creation of a high-speed electric cable network linking Europe to the Middle East across the Mediterranean seabed, a Cypriot official said on Tuesday.

The so-called Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) seeks to link the transmission networks of Greece via Crete, Cyprus and eventually Israel in a project costing 2.4 billion euros ($2.67 billion). Up to Cyprus, the cable is estimated at 1.9 billion euros.

On completion, it will be the longest, at 1,240 km, and deepest, at 3,000 meters, high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector in the world. The European Union has said it is willing to finance part of it, which, at present, is slated to be complete by around 2030.

But the ambitious project touches upon a complex patchwork of overlapping jurisdiction claims between Greece, Cyprus and regional rival...