Poullikkas urges Cyprus to assess Great Sea Interconnector’s long-term strategic value

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus should look beyond the immediate public cost of the Great Sea Interconnector and consider whether it can become an energy hub for the Eastern Mediterranean, according to energy systems expert Andreas Poullikkas.

The former Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority chairman said the Cyprus-Greece project should be assessed for the energy infrastructure it could provide in coming decades.

Strategic assessment

Poullikkas, a professor of energy systems at Frederick University, said debate over the Great Sea Interconnector had focused heavily on its financial cost, particularly the contribution required from the Republic.

While scrutiny of such a major investment was justified, he said cost alone could not determine its strategic value.

“The real question Cyprus should be asking is much bigger. What kind of energy infrastructure do we want to hand over to the next generations of Cyprus?” Poullikkas said.

He said Cyprus needed to decide whether it wanted to remain electrically isolated or use its geographical position as a strategic advantage and develop into an energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Cyprus contribution

Under the agreement between the Cypriot and Greek governments and the relevant decisions on implementing the project, Cyprus’s financial obligation currently stands at €50 million, Poullikkas said.

He added that the overall mechanism for recovering the relevant cost under the existing European legislative framework had been analysed in a previous article.

Poullikkas said presenting the €50 million solely as another financial burden on Cyprus amounted to an excessively narrow assessment of the project.

“The correct way to assess a major energy infrastructure project cannot be to ask how much we are paying today. It must be to ask what we are acquiring for the coming decades,” he said.

Accountability and risks

Poullikkas said every euro of public spending should be scrutinised, major investments should be subject to transparency and accountability, and risks should be assessed seriously.