OT at TIF – Manousakis (Independent Power Transmission Operator): Today’s energy crisis is worse than the 70s

“The energy crisis plaguing Europe at the moment is “worse than that of the 1970s. It started as a price crisis and tends to develop into a fuel shortage crisis.” This was emphasized by the managing director of Independent Power Transmission Operator-IPTO, Manos Manousakis, speaking at the OT Forum that takes place in the context of the 86th TIF. The managing director of IPTO Manos Manousakis himself.

He, however, described the “investment explosion” in RES as a positive development mainly in the current situation, which has the effect of increasing the share of RES in the energy mix, thus decreasing dependence on fossil fuels. He estimated that it is possible with a horizon of 2030, if storage technologies are also introduced into the system, to have managed to catch and exceed the goals of the national energy and climate plan and for Greece to rely on the new national fuel that will it is the wind and the sun.

IPTO in the share capital of EuroAsia Interconnector

Mr. Manousakis announced at OT FORUM the participation of IPTO in the share capital of the consortium for the project of the electric interconnection of Crete-Cyprus-Israel, as the relevant proposal submitted by the Administrator was accepted.

As the managing director of the Administrator said due diligence procedures were beginning in order for IPTO to participate in the EuroAsia Interconnector. He also emphasized that it is a particularly important development for both Cyprus and Greece that the Administrator from Greece is a substantial shareholder in this project. The second positive, he added, is that we have seen increased interest from Israel in the last year as well, which means that the project is on a very positive path. “We expect that Israel will immediately support,” he stressed.

The importance of international connections

Asked about the importance of international interconnections, Manos Manousakis underlined that international interconnections are what implement the single electricity market in Europe. The result in terms of sufficiency is that the more interconnected a country is, the more possibilities it has in difficult times, if it has a problem from one source, to find an alternative source of energy. This juncture, he emphasized, is an opportunity for Greece to become an energy hub of the Southern Mediterranean so that energy can be transferred from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe through Greece.

In this context, he explained, the interconnections that are maturing between Crete, Cyprus and Israel, the EuroAsia Interconnector, and at the same time, during the last year Greece’s involvement with the possibility of electrical interconnection between Greece and Egypt has begun very dynamically.

Participation in the Greece-Egypt interconnection

Τhe managing director of the Administrator pointed out that the Greece-Egypt interconnection is a project that is at an earlier stage. In any case, however, there is the advantage of the huge wind potential in a specific area of ​​North Egypt. We expect, he said, the maturation of plans for the creation of RES, so they can participate in the market between Europe and Egypt. Renewables, he explained should be built, capable of making a cable commercially viable in order to do what the EU needs now: import more renewable energy from North Africa. We are, he added, in constant contact, we are doing joint studies with the corresponding Egyptian Administrator and we are interested in our equity participation in this project. “The Administrator must reinvest its revenues in order to achieve the goal of making our country an energy hub of the Southern Mediterranean”, he underlined.

The progress of major interconnections within the country

Regarding the progress of the large electrical interconnections within Greece, Mr. Manousakis stated that they are developing seamlessly and at the rates known from previous years. In the Peloponnese, the western corridor and the eastern corridor, as well as the Corinth Ultra High Voltage Center, are being completed and will be inaugurated in 2022. Also, the tender for the interconnection between Corinth and the Ultra High Voltage Center in Aspropyrgos will be launched immediately so that the Peloponnese is now fully integrated in the 400 KV network, opening space for further RES development.

Stable tax framework

When asked what he expected to hear from the prime minister during his speech at TIF tonight, Mr. Manousakis said “we expect to hear a policy that will support investments, a stable regulatory and tax framework so that investors feel safe and the funds that ” they are looking” towards coming to Greece, so that investments can proceed. We also need to speed up the licensing mechanisms and tackle red tape.”