AFPĮgypt, Greece and Cyprus have forged close political and economic ties since Mr El Sisi took office in 2014. It already has plans to link its electricity grid with Sudan, Libya, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.Įgypt's President Abdel Fatah El Sisi replaces his facemask after a trilateral meeting between Greece, Egypt and Cyprus in Athens. The cable, which will be the world’s longest, will allow the three Mediterranean nations to share up to 2,000 megawatts at peak times, the document said.Įgypt has in recent years become an exporter of electricity, thanks to a national, multibillion-dollar undertaking mostly with Germany’s power company Siemens, to increase power generation. The document states that it will involve an undersea cable that is 1,396 kilometres long with a cost of $2.7 billion. Tuesday’s agreement follows the signing this month of an agreement on the project. “It’s a preliminary step that takes us near the common goal what we aspire to, which is to eventually link with the rest of Europe,” said the Egyptian leader. “It’s my personal pleasure to witness with you today the signing of the tripartite agreement to link our electricity grids,” Mr El Sisi said after meeting in Athens on Tuesday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. Their alliance is also partially designed to counter the growing influence of Turkey in the Middle East and check Ankara’s attempts to muscle in on the energy project, after large natural gas reserves were found in the area.Įgypt's President Abdel Fatah El Sisi during a joint news briefing with Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos MItsotakis and Cyprus's President Nicos Anastasiades in Athens on October 19. The agreement was the latest sign of increasingly close and wide-ranging relations binding the three nations, which are already partnering on an ambitious energy project to turn the Eastern Mediterranean into a major natural gas hub.

Egypt, Greece and Cyprus on Tuesday signed a major agreement to link their electricity grids, a move that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi described as a first step towards connecting the three nations’ grids with the rest of Europe.

Cable agree to link power grids