IPTO is planning investments of up to EUR 4.3 bn for 2021-2030, aiming to gradually interconnect all of the country's islands to the mainland system, to ensure reliable, cost-efficient and greener power supply.
During a teleconference today, the Operator presented to the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy the key parameters of its investment programme and the implementation time frames of each interconnection. The projects already under way were reviewed, including the effect that the COVID-19 crisis may have on them. IPTO’s management assured the Ministry that for the time being there is very limited impact, and that in any case, the Operator has the option of using its own work crews to implement overhead lines which may be delayed due to the pandemic.
In its Ten-year Network Development Plan 2021-2030, submitted for approval to RAE, IPTO incorporated comments from energy market stakeholders and made adjustments to accelerate and improve the efficiency of the change in the country’s energy mix resulting from the phase-out of lignite. Overall, 5000 new km of electrical interconnections will be added to the existing Transmission System, submarine in their greater part.
Phase I of the investment plan, to be completed in 2024, involves projects amounting to EUR 1.6 bn. Specifically, the key projects that will complete the country’s map of electrical interconnections over a 10-year horizon, are:
- Crete-Peloponnese Interconnection
The EUR 350 million project will be completed within 2020, and it is co-financed by Greece and the EU. - Crete-Attica Interconnection
During the 2021-2024 period, investments for the project - which is to be included in the NSRF - will reach EUR 781 million, with a goal of completing the interconnection in 2023. Together with the section to be implemented in 2020, the total budget reaches EUR 1 billion. - Cyclades Interconnection
The island of Naxos will be added to the interconnected islands of the Cyclades (Syros-Paros-Mykonos-Andros-Tinos) within 2020. The last phase, with a budget of EUR 389 million, will be completed during 2023-2024, with the islands of Serifos, Milos, Folegandros and Santorini. The overall project is co-financed from European and national funds. - Expansion of 400 kV System to the Peloponnese
The Ultra-High Voltage system is expanded to the Peloponnese, opening up further opportunities for RES penetration in the country's southern System, with a total budget of EUR 90 million and completion planned for 2024. The first part of the project (Megalopoli-Corinth and Corinth HVC) will be completed in 2021. - Interconnection of the Dodecanese
The Dodecanese (Kos-Rhodes-Karpathos) will be interconnected with the mainland system by 2027, with a total budget of EUR 1.5 billion. - Interconnection of NE Aegean
The Aegean interconnections map will be completed in 2029, with the islands of the North-east Aegean and Skyros. This project, amounting in total to EUR 885 million, includes the interconnections of Skyros, Lesvos, Limnos, Chios, Samos with Evia in the west, Thrace in the north and Kos in the south.
Mr Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of Environment and Energy, stated on the subject: “The interconnections of our islands are a positive message for the environment, since our islands will be free of the power plant smokestacks. But it will also be a positive message for consumers across Greece, since they will be relieved to a great extent from the hundreds of millions of euros they pay each year for Utilities, which is how consumers have been subsidising the generation of electricity on the islands to date. The construction of the projects per se in fact bolsters entire segments of the Greek economy, which have even greater need of such support during this coronavirus crisis.”
Mr Gerasimos Thomas, Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, further noted: “The Operator must constantly readjust its investment program based on the National Plan for Energy and Climate and the progress in its implementation, since deployment of the grids is critical for the energy transformation we are pushing forward and the achievement of the EU Green Deal objectives. The proper implementation of IPTO’s major projects is a catalyst for a range of investments across the entire energy sector. We are expecting no delays in the projects to strengthen Crete’s energy security, as well as those that will relieve the Grid's congestion, for example in the Peloponnese and Western Greece, allowing the introduction of more RES. At the same time, the energy transformation requires - beyond infrastructure - the smooth operation of the energy market, where IPTO has a significant responsibility to implement and operate the Target Model.”
Mr Manos Manousakis, Chairman and CEO of IPTO, noted on the subject: “IPTO is implementing a marathon investment plan over a 10-year horizon. Our main concern is to keep completing our projects on schedule and, where possible, even earlier. During the current adverse circumstances caused by the pandemic, the Operator is working hard to continue implementing the interconnections seamlessly. To this day, we have managed to do this in all our main projects, which are either in the construction or the contracting phase.”
