A new 1 GW subsea cable will move clean energy between Italy and Greece

Italy and Greece are planning to install a subsea cable to increase their interconnection capacity and share renewable energy.

Italian grid operator Terna announced that a public consultation for the €750 million ($797 million) subsea cable project – GR.ITA 2 – has been greenlit.

Two 250-km (155-mile) subsea cables with up to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power and two 50-km underground DC cables will run between Tesprozia, Greece, and Melendugno, Italy, and then to Galatina, where a new conversion station will be connected to Italy’s national grid via an underground AC cable. Terna hasn’t yet indicated a target completion date.

The subsea connection is going to allow Italy and Greece to integrate their renewable power generation, thus making each country’s electrical system more sustainable and reliable. It’s also going to reduce costs for consumers on both sides of the Ionian Sea, and increase benefits for power producers as a result of the higher exchange limit between the two countries.

GR.ITA 2 will be the second subsea cable connection that runs between between Italy and Greece. The first, a 400 kV DC connection with a 500 MW bidirectional transport capacity, was built in 2002, and it’s over 300 km (186 miles) long. It connects Galatina and Aetos in Greece.

Read more: The world’s longest subsea cable that will send clean energy from Morocco to the UK just got a big boost

Photo and map: Terna

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