Israel, due to its estimated shortages in its electricity generation capacity, desires interconnection with Cyprus, as it sees the island as a potential electricity exporter, Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Papanastasiou has said, confirming the relevant press reports in Cypriot media.

Commenting on press reports at the sidelines of a memorial service of former President Demetris Christofias, on Sunday in Nicosia, Papanastasiou said the issue was discussed during a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, during his visit to the neighbouring country last Wednesday in a bid to explore possible natural gas imports from Israeli gas fields to Cyprus for electricity generation.

“The issue was discussed and Israel expressed interest to receive electricity from various sources, additional to the electricity generated domestically and (the issue) was one of the first topics discussed,” he said.

Noting that during the discussion he was told that the electricity shortage in Israel is estimated at 4 to 5 Gigawatts in the next four to five years, Papanastasiou added “Israel seeks an electricity interconnection with Cyprus because it sees (the island) as a potential electricity producer for export.”

“For this reason the issue was discussed thoroughly as we also discussed the issue of natural gas and the connection of the two countries,” he added.

Papanastasiou recalled that Cyprus has been discussing the issue of “Gas-to-Power”, that is generating electricity from natural gas, pointing out that additionally green energy produced by renewables, which many times is being discarded from the grid administrator, could also be exported.

“We have ample of electricity which we sort of discard as it cannot be absorbed by our grid,” he added, noting that with the electricity interconnection “we will make sure that the excessive production from green energy, which is additional to conventional production, could be diverted to other countries in need.”

Replying to a question over the timeframe of this project, Papanastasiou said the Israeli side wishes to expedite the issue, recalling that this will be discussed in the context of two expert committees, agreed by both sides, which will begin work in July.

Asked on the construction of the interconnector, Papanastasiou said following the conclusion of a bilateral agreement on the route of the cable, the operator will proceed with the construction of the cable and the various substations.

He also said that the cost of the cable liking the two countries is estimated at just over €0.5 billion.