Cyprus is moving forward with a venture to lay a natural gas pipeline from Israel and Cyprus to Europe. The Cypriot Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism has submitted the plan, called the Trans-Med Pipeline, to the European Commission. Cyprus has asked for the plan to receive projects of common interest (PCI) status, which would make it eligible for EU funding.
However, Cyprus's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis believes that gas exports will ultimately be carried out through the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, rather than by an undersea pipeline.
Cyprus has been serving as president of the EU since June.
The plan calls for laying a 1,400-kilometer pipeline that will link the Levant Basin, where Israel and Cyprus's natural gas discoveries are located, with the natural gas pipeline network in Greece. The plan says that it will be possible for gas to flow in both directions when it begins operating in 2018. The cost of the project was not disclosed.
Cyprus is also moving forward with a 2,000-megawatt undersea electrical cable that will link Israel, Cyprus, and Crete. The target date for this plan is 2016.
The European Commission is due to draw up by the end of this year a list of 400 applications for funding, from 50 natural gas and 100 electricity projects will be selected. The Commission has asked for €9.1 billion in funding for the projects, but the final budget may be far less.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 25, 2012
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