Crete-Attica Interconnection: Ariadne Interconnection completes seabed surveys

The seabed investigations for the electrical interconnection of Crete with Attica have been completed, aiming at the selection of the technically and environmentally optimal route of the cable and the avoidance of obstacles located on the seabed such as shipwrecks, mines from the Second World War, etc.

The research, according to Ariadne Interconnection, a subsidiary of IPTO that implements the interconnection, was carried out by the contractors of the cable segments, the Italian firm Prysmian and the Norwegian firm Nexans, using high-tech underwater devices that capture the trail of the route.

The depth of the route reaches up to 1,300 meters, a fact that places the “great interconnection” of Crete in the top trio of interconnections with the largest immersion depth in the world.

The submarine direct current cable has a length of 335 km and is expected to be completed in 2023.

From 2024, when both interconnections (Chania – Peloponnese that has been completed and Heraklion – Attica) will be in commercial operation, the financial benefit from the closure of the local power plants of PPC in Crete that operate using oil is estimated at 550 million euros annually, while at the same time the CO2 pollutants for the energy production on the island will be zeroed.