Ioannis Kasoulides, chairman of the Strategic Council of the EuroAfrica Interconnector,\u00a0said in a statement following the signing ceremony, \u201cWith the historic signing agreement between EuroAfrica Interconnector and the Egyptian authorities, the first major electricity interconnection project linking Africa with Europe has been realized.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCyprus now becomes a major hub for the transmission of electricity from Africa to Europe, and Egypt establishes itself as a regional energy hub for the transmission of electricity from Africa to the Arabian peninsula,\u201d Kasoulides stated,\u00a0adding\u00a0that with the signing of this agreement, Egypt\u2019s national grid will be connected to Europe\u2019s electricity system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis historic project is of great importance to Egypt\u2019s strategic plan for\u00a0economic development and energy security, and the EuroAfrica Interconnector is connecting Egypt to the European electricity network through Cyprus. Egypt will be an important electricity and energy partner for the European Union,\u201d Egyptian Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker told a press conference following the signing of the deal.<\/p>\n
Energy experts have praised the signing of this agreement, which will serve Egypt\u2019s strategy to turn into a major energy hub, but they also point to\u00a0challenges ahead.<\/p>\n
Tharwat Ragheb, professor of petroleum and energy engineering at the British University in Cairo, said that the agreement serves\u00a0Egypt\u2019s plan to become a hub for trade of energy in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cEgypt has also signed\u00a0electricity interconnection deals\u00a0with Saudi Arabia,\u00a0Sudan, Libya and Jordan. Such access to power grid projects will make Egypt a pivotal energy carrier in the Middle East, from the east with Jordan and Saudi Arabia, from the west with Libya, from the south with Sudan, or from the north with Cyprus and Greece,\u201d Ragheb told Al-Monitor.<\/p>\n
However, he added that\u00a0sea operations,\u00a0as in the case of Cyprus and Greece, are more difficult.\u00a0\u201cTransporting electricity via sea will\u00a0need a lot financial resources and high technology. It will also take some time,\u201d Ragheb said.<\/p>\n
Hani Farouk, a member of the non-governmental organization of the Egyptian Experts\u00a0Association for Development\u00a0who specializes in\u00a0planning and managing oil and gas projects, said that the Egyptian government needs to work on developing the electricity infrastructure in order to be qualified to\u00a0connect\u00a0to the European electricity system.<\/p>\n
He added that with the signing of such electricity interconnection agreements with African, European and Asian countries, electricity will become a source of\u00a0national income for Egypt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a real game-changer for Egypt, which has been relying on energy imports for years,\u201d Farouk told Al-Monitor.<\/p>\n
Farouk said that\u00a0Turkey has missed\u00a0its chance\u00a0to become an energy hub in the Middle East. \u201cTurkey was trying to take Egypt\u2019s position, but it failed when Egypt signed an\u00a0agreement with Cyprus\u00a0last year to establish a direct sub-sea gas pipeline that would transport gas from Cyprus\u2019 Aphrodite gas field to Egyptian liquefaction stations for re-export to European countries. What Turkey is now doing is just nonsense threats over territorial waters,\u201d he added. \u201cNow Egypt will become the top gas exporter to Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since 2014, Egypt has been ramping up its efforts to address energy shortages and become an oil and gas exporter once again for the first time since the January 25 Revolution.<\/p>\n
In January this year, seven eastern Mediterranean countries met in Cairo and agreed to establish the\u00a0Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum\u00a0based in the Egyptian capital. The meeting was attended by ministers of energy from Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy, the Egyptian Oil Ministry said in a press release. Turkey was not represented at the meeting.<\/p>\n
The establishment of the forum, which seeks to offer competitive prices and build a regional gas market, comes as Egypt seeks to transform itself into a regional\u00a0energy hub.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeciding to have the headquarters of this forum in Cairo boosts Egypt\u2019s plan to become an\u00a0energy hub in the Middle East region and the top energy exporter to Europe,\u201d Farouk said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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