French boost for project to link power grids of Greece and Cyprus - KATHIMERINI

05.08.2026 • 17:32

The bid to link the power grids of Greece and Cyprus received a new boost Wednesday with French investment group Meridiam joining the Great Sea Interconnector project as a majority stakeholder, in an agreement with a strong financial and geopolitical footprint.

The deal signed at the Greek prime minister’s Athens office, in the presence of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, opens a new chapter in one of the biggest and most complex energy projects in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Mitsotakis hailed the agreement as “an important step forward” for the GSI, which he called “a project of strategic importance for Greece and Cyprus but also for Europe as a whole.”

“It will help essentially end Cyprus ‘s energy isolation,” Mitsotakis said.

‘Energy giants from Gulf states’ interested in Cypriot natural gas - CYPRUS MAIL

15 November 2024

Tom Cleaver

“Energy giants from Gulf states” are interested in possibly drilling for natural gas in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday.

Addressing the Energy symposium in Nicosia, he said this interest constitutes a “vote of confidence in the prospects of Cyprus’ EEZ”.

He said work is “progressing intensively” regarding the ‘Aphrodite’ deposit in block 12, with Energy Minister George Papanastasiou having said last week that the revised plan for the deposit submitted by American corporation Chevron in September is now being “discussed at a technocratic level”.

On the matter of the ‘Kronos’ reservoir, he said Italian energy company Eni are expected to submit a development plan soon, and that he had held a telephone conversation with the company’s head Claudio Descalzi on Thursday.

Papanastasiou said last week that Eni is “fast tracking” the process.

“We expect this month or next for there to be a development and production plan” for the deposit in question, Papanastasiou said, adding that the gas from the ‘Kronos’ reservoir will also be taken to Egypt for liquefaction and subsequent export.

Greece signs agreement with Italy on natural gas storage - KATHIMERINI

10.SEPT.2022 • 09:06

Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said on Friday he signed a memorandum of understanding with his Italian counterpart to have natural gas stored in Italy.

The agreement covers 1.5 TWh (terra watt hours) of natural gas that can be transported to Greece via reverse flows, the minister said, without providing further details.

Greece had been in talks with Italy to see whether it can store gas there as part of efforts to secure supplies if Russian flows are disrupted.

Greece has no gas storage facilities and may need to store enough gas in other states to cover 15% of its annual use in the coming winter.

In a pre-recorded message aired at the 6th Southeast Europe Energy Forum 2022 held in Thessaloniki on Friday, Skrekas said Greece has transformed into a regional hub of both natural gas and green energy.

China's State Grid seals acquisition of stake in Greek power grid - REUTERS

Tue Jun 20, 2017 6:54pm GMT
Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Susan Thomas

ATHENS, June 20 (Reuters) - China's State Grid, the world's biggest utility, concluded on Tuesday the acquisition of a minority stake in Greece's power grid operator ADMIE, Beijing's second big investment in the bailed-out country in more than a year.

Under its latest international bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, Greece has agreed to spin off ADMIE from its state-controlled power utility Public Power Corp. and sell a 24 percent stake to State Grid for 320 million euros ($356 million).

Greece to conclude power grid spin-off by June -ADMIE chief - EURONEWS

18/05/2017Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Karolina Tagaris and David Goodman

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will conclude the spin-off of power grid operator ADMIE (ΑΔΜΗΕ) by mid-June, meeting a key term of its third international bailout,ADMIE’s chief executive said on Thursday. Athens and its EU/IMF lenders had agreed that 24 percent of ADMIE, owned by state-controlled utility Public Power Corp, would be sold this year to China’s State Grid Corp and a further 25 percent to a Greek state holding company. 

SGCC agreement for 24% of IPTO endorsed by Brussels - ENERGY PRESS

11.5.2017

The European Commission has endorsed an agreement between state-controlled PPC, the main power utility, and China’s SGCC (State Grid Corporation of China) for the latter’s acquisition of a 24 percent stake in the power grid operator IPTO (ΑΔΜΗΕ), a PPC subsidiary.

The proposed acquisition, priced at 320 million euros, does not breach EU competition regulations, the European Commission announced.

The Greek government had submitted its application to Brussels, seeking an endorsement for the agreement, just over a month ago, on April 10.

Greek power utility shareholders approve grid spin-off - EURACTIV.COM / REUTERS

18 January 2017

Shareholders of Greece’s power utility Public Power Corp. (PPC) approved yesterday (17 January) the transfer of a 51% stake in the power grid operator ADMIE, part of a spin-off scheme, which is a major term in Greece’s bailout programme.

Under a legislated scheme aiming at keeping ADMIE under state control, PPC will sell a 24% stake to China’s State Grid for €320 million and set up a special vehicle to transfer a cost-free 51% stake to the state and existing private shareholders.

“The extraordinary PPC shareholders meeting approved the procedures in order to conclude ADMIE’s spin-off,” the energy ministry said in a statement.

In 2015, Greece signed up to its third international bailout since the debt crisis erupted, agreeing to cut spending, pursue reforms and speed up privatisations to shore up its finances.

Stathakis upsets DESFA sale plans - KATHIMERINI

DESFA import terminal on Revithoussa, near Athens

11.01.2017 : 09:58
Chryssa Liaggou

The government is taking the privatization of gas network operator DESFA back to square one, reversing what has been agreed with Greece’s creditors on the fast-track process and the immediate restart of the existing tender.

Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis on Tuesday informed the creditors of a new plan providing for the state to retain a 51 percent controlling stake in DESFA, along similar lines to the recent sell-off of 24 percent of power grid operator ADMIE.

Stathakis added in his letter that the government is not responsible for what DESFA’s other main stakeholder, Hellenic Petroleum, decides regarding the sale of its 35 percent stake. Therefore, given that the state’s stake comes to 65 percent, the Stathakis plan provides for the sale of just 14 percent of DESFA, which would hardly be attractive for investors if Hellenic Petroleum were to decide against putting its stake up for sale.

China extends penetration of Greek market - KATHIMERINI

08.01.2017 : 21:12
Ilias Bellos

Chinese enterprises are showing an increased interest in Greece, as not only does the country offer them an entry gate to the eurozone and the rest of Europe, but it’s also a relatively new market for them.

Just weeks after the signing of a cooperation agreement between Public Power Corporation and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) on the development of joint infrastructure projects, and days after the acquisition of 24 percent in the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) by China’s State Grid Corp, the head of China Shenhua Group arrived in Athens with his staff.

The chief of one of the world’s biggest corporations in coal and energy trading “expressed his will to understand in depth the Greek energy market and promote cooperation with Greek enterprises, such as on lignite-powered electricity units,” Kathimerini has been told.