Egypt, Greece agree to study Europe power link project
The deal was signed on Monday via video conference, with the electricity ministers of both countries in attendance.
Participants included Egypt’s national grid operator, EETC; Greece’s grid operator, IPTO; and Elika, a subsidiary of the Kopelouzos Group responsible for implementing the project.
Egyptian Electricity Minister Mahmoud Esmat stressed the project’s significance for both nations, describing it as a “bridge for transferring clean energy from Egypt to the European Union.”
Esmat underscored the Egyptian government’s strategic focus on enhancing cross-border power interconnections, according to an electricity ministry statement.
He said the project is crucial for sustainable development and will help “turn Egypt into a regional hub” for energy exchange and as a conduit for electricity trade between Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Esmat noted that both governments are committed to advancing the project. He also highlighted the economic benefits of energy exchange and Egypt’s active role in regional interconnection initiatives.
The agreement marks a further step in Egypt’s strategy to become a major regional energy hub by leveraging its renewable energy potential to supply Europe—a goal accelerated by Europe’s need to diversify away from Russian natural gas.
The project, known as GREGY, first emerged in 2009, was revived by an MoU in 2021, and gained urgency after Europe’s gas crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
Its core objective is to transmit 3,000 MW of clean, renewable electricity—primarily from Egypt’s solar and wind farms—to Europe via submarine cable.
The project is expected to replace 4.5 bcm of natural gas annually and therefore slash CO₂ emissions by 10 million tons per year. It was included on the EU’s list of funded electricity interconnection projects. The project will significantly boost sustainability and energy security across the region, according to Marinos Giannopoulos, CEO of Enterprise Greece, the country’s official trade and investment promotion agency.
The project is expected to unlock 1 billion euros in grants and concessional funding, he said in an interview with Ahram Online in July.
Athens is expected to use part of the energy for industrial purposes and export the majority to European countries, according to reports.
GREGY is the second power-link project connecting Egypt and Greece. The first, the EuroAfrica Interconnector, involving Cyprus, has a planned capacity of 2,000 MW.
Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece are part of the EastMed Gas Forum (EMGF), a Cairo-based international organization that aims to establish a regional gas market in the eastern Mediterranean and enhance trade relations among the member states.