The Great Sea Interconnector, the ambitious electricity link designed to connect Greece, Cyprus and eventually Israel, is gaining new political and financial backing after years of delays and uncertainty.
On Monday, a US State Department spokesperson reaffirmed Washington’s support for energy security and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean following bipartisan congressional pressure for stronger American backing of the project.
“The United States supports energy security and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean, including through the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center,” the spokesperson said in comments quoted by AMNA. “The Trump administration remains committed to strengthening key energy partnerships that enhance global energy security and promote a safer and more prosperous future, with energy security for the United States and its partners,” the spokesperson added.
The statement comes as US lawmakers urge Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US International Development Finance Corp. to support the Great Sea Interconnector, linking the project to wider American strategic interests and the development of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
The diplomatic push follows another significant development: French infrastructure investment group Meridiam signed an agreement on August 5 to become the majority shareholder in the Great Sea Interconnector’s development company, giving the project a new financial and geopolitical dimension.
French Investment Gives Project a New Boost
The agreement signed in Athens brings Meridiam into the project as the majority shareholder of the Great Sea Interconnector special-purpose company, while Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator, ADMIE, retains a strategic role.
At the same time, ADMIE, GSI and French cable manufacturer Nexans signed an agreement aimed at accelerating work on the project, beginning with the completion of crucial seabed surveys.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the agreement as strategically important for Greece, Cyprus and Europe, calling Meridiam’s entry a strong vote of confidence in the project.
The arrival of a major French investor is particularly significant because the project has struggled to move beyond technical, regulatory and geopolitical obstacles.
The Great Sea Interconnector is the project vehicle for the planned electricity connection between Crete and Cyprus, with a later phase intended to extend the grid toward Israel. The Greece-Cyprus section is designed to connect Cyprus—the European Union’s last electrically isolated member state—to the European electricity system.
A Project Delayed by Geopolitical Tensions
The interconnector has faced more than financial and engineering challenges.
Offshore survey work associated with the project was disrupted after Turkey objected to activity in waters south of Kasos, contributing to a prolonged period of uncertainty over how and when the project could advance.
Meridiam’s arrival is therefore being viewed in Athens not only as a source of capital but also as a development with a potentially broader geopolitical impact. France now has a greater stake in a project that already involves French cable manufacturer Nexans.
The project itself remains exposed to implementation, regulatory and counterparty risks. ADMIE has acknowledged in investor documentation that unresolved external issues could materially affect its development and implementation.
That means the latest developments do not eliminate the obstacles facing the interconnector. They do, however, provide the project with stronger institutional backing at a time when its future had become increasingly uncertain.
Washington Sees Wider Strategic Value
The renewed attention from Washington reflects the Great Sea Interconnector’s growing importance beyond Greece and Cyprus.
US congressional legislation has explicitly identified the project, alongside other Eastern Mediterranean energy infrastructure, as important to European and US energy security and as potential infrastructure supporting connectivity between India, the Gulf and Europe through the Eastern Mediterranean.
That framework places the project within the broader India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, which Washington and its partners see as an important route connecting Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
For Greece and Cyprus, the argument is also more immediate.
The interconnector could strengthen energy security, allow greater integration of renewable energy and end Cyprus’s isolation from the European electricity grid. Israel, which is also not electrically interconnected with neighboring countries, could eventually join the system through a later phase of the project.
US and French Backing Changes the Project’s Profile
The latest developments do not mean the Great Sea Interconnector is guaranteed to proceed on schedule.
The project still faces difficult questions involving financing, regulation, technical implementation and geopolitical tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
But the combination of Meridiam’s majority investment, renewed French involvement through Nexans and growing pressure in Washington for US support changes the political environment around the project.
For years, the Great Sea Interconnector was largely viewed as a Greece-Cyprus infrastructure project with an eventual connection to Israel.
It is increasingly becoming something larger: a European energy project with French financial involvement and a strategic component that US lawmakers are linking to the future of energy security and connectivity between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
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