The president and managing director of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO), Manos Manousakis, and the managing director of National Grid, Waleed Al-Saadi, signed the establishment of the special purpose company “Saudi Greek Interconnection” with the view to preparing the viability study for the electricity interconnection between Greece and Saudi Arabia.
The partnership between IPTO and National Grid – supervised by the Environment and Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia – specifies the strategic cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, which was agreed at the highest international level in the summer of 2022, during the visit made to Greece by the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
As part of this cooperation, the two system operators signed the shareholders agreement (SHA) on September 27, 2023 in Athens.
According to the “Saudi Greek Interconnection” statute, IPTO and National Grid will hold a 50% share each.
As Manousakis pointed out, “the electrical interconnection between Greece and Saudi Arabia is a very important project for Europe that can accelerate the ‘greening’ of the energy mix of Epirus, giving access to new sources of clean energy.”
“The agreement signed with National Grid, the ‘Saudi Greek Interconnection’ project is becoming a reality. This interconnection will further strengthen the energy corridors between the Middle East and Europe, in which IPTO plays an active role, contributing to the energy transition of the wider region. Given the value of the ‘Saudi Greek Interconnection’ for the energy goals of Europe and Asia, our pursuit is the rapid maturation of the interconnection and its promotion as a Project of Mutual Interest for the EU,” he added.
