Greece proposes power link to Austria, Germany

According to Greece's energy minister on Thursday, a cable that would transport renewable energy to Austria and southern Germany has been proposed.

Athens, which has plenty of sun and wind, has made permission easier and encourages significant investment in the construction of power networks to more than quadruple the share of renewable sources to 70% of electricity consumption by 2030.

"We have already submitted a proposal to Austria, to my Austrian counterpart and my German counterpart to build a power interconnection to link Greece with Austria and further with southern Germany," Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas told a renewable energy conference in Athens.

Skrekas said that the cable, which would run through Albania and other Balkan countries, would have an initial capacity of 3 gigawatts that could be ramped up to 9 gigawatts.

“The project is expected to allow renewable energy exports from Egypt to Greece at times of high renewable energy generation and also vice versa contributing to a significant increase of participation of renewables in the energy mix and reduction of greenhouse emissions of the power sector,” Entso-E said on its website. “The project is rather complex since its extensive length implicates various transmission system technologies, such as AC and DC lines, overhead, underground and submarine transmission lines.

The project will likely be commissioned in 2028, said Entso-E.

An energy ministry source said discussions with Austria and Germany are underway on the conditions for implementing and funding such a project.

The European Union executive wants to speed up the bloc's green transition and cut its reliance on Russian fuels by allowing some renewable energy projects to receive permits within a year.