for the tender for hydrocarbon exploitation blocks off the Peloponnese and southern Crete, and for the Crete-Cyprus electricity interconnection. The offshore wind parks appear abandoned.
Athens is rushing to ensure the progress of the hydrocarbon block tender in the face of Libyan and Turkish objections and with the support of US energy giants.
The completion of the international tender within the timetables agreed with Chevron is currently being promoted by government circles as the most effective response to the reactions of Turkey’s allies in Libya. Athens’ goal is the successful completion of the tender, which cannot be ensured without the participation of Chevron.
Time is also counting down for the Crete-Cyprus electrical interconnection project (GSI). The project is only progressing in the construction of the submarine cable, since seabed surveys in international waters have been frozen since July last year, following the Turkish interventions near Kasos.
This development also makes it difficult to continue the production of the cable, as was evident from the latest public statements by contractor ADMIE and the fruitless consultations of the parties involved in resolving the regulatory issues related to its financing.
Meanwhile, the national program for offshore wind farms has frozen, after it was solemnly announced in October 2023, gathering the interest of almost all major European companies in the sector, with the aim of installing 1.9 GW of power by 2030. Twenty months later, the joint ministerial decision required by law to activate the program, which should have been issued in the first quarter of 2024, has not been approved. It is reportedly stuck with the Foreign Ministry, with information linking its stance to a more cautious effort by Athens to manage the entire issue, so that there is no new involvement with Turkey similar to what happened last year near Kasos.