Europe and North Africa are getting their first undersea power link
12 hours ago
- #Energy Infrastructure
- #International Collaboration
- #Renewable Energy
- Italy and Tunisia awarded Hitachi Energy a €770 million contract to build converter stations for the Elmed HVDC interconnection project.
- The 600 MW, 220 km HVDC link will connect Sicily and Tunisia, with most of the cable running underwater in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Elmed is part of Italy's Mattei Plan for Africa and supports the EU's REPowerEU strategy, promoting renewable energy sharing and grid integration.
- The European Commission provided €307 million via the Connecting Europe Facility, the first EU funding for energy infrastructure outside the bloc.
- Additional project backers include the World Bank, EIB, EBRD, and KfW.
- The link will enhance energy security and enable electricity exchange between European and North African grids.