A high-positioned governmental source of Cyprus confirmed to IBNA the 35-million-euro -“dowry”, about to be invested in the final study for the construction of the EastMed pipeline, a project on energy planning for the transportation of natural gas to Europe. According to the same source, if all goes as planned, news regarding the 35 million euros will be announced on January 25, 2018.

The EastMed strengthens the EU’s energy security goals by creating diversification of routes and sources and is complementary with other export options developing the East Mediterranean Corridor.

It is designated by Greece as a project of national importance; it is a priority project for Italy and, since 2013 is promoted by the EU as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), benefiting from the fast-track procedures provided by Regulation 347/2013, while co-financing by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility for the pre-FEED studies was approved in 2015.

The pre-FEED studies underline the EastMed’s added value and its complementarity with other projects and demonstrate conclusively that the project is technically feasible, economically viable and commercially competitive, with the required engineering similar for projects already implemented (Medgaz pipeline Algeria – Spain) or planned (Galsi pipeline Algeria – Italy). Moreover, as a result of continuous technological progress the pipeline’s capacity could be increased to further enhance its economic potential.

The successful results of the pre-FEED studies have provided further impetus to the project’s development through initiatives at both the national and European level. In this context, in April 2017, the Energy Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Israel, signed, in the presence of the EU Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, a quadrilateral joint declaration to follow closely the EastMed’s development and further support its promotion.

Source: Spiros Sideris/balkaneu.com