Cyprus should assess the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) as long-term strategic infrastructure rather than focusing only on its immediate cost, according to energy systems expert and former CERA chairman Andreas Poullikkas.
Poullikkas, a professor at Frederick University, said Cyprus needs to decide whether it will remain electrically isolated or use its location to become an energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean. Under the current arrangements, the Republic’s financial obligation stands at €50 million.
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From Isolation To Energy Integration
Cyprus remains the only EU member state without an electricity connection to the European network. Poullikkas argues that this isolation carries economic, environmental and energy-security costs.
The GSI could help integrate Cyprus into the European electricity market, increase the use of renewable energy and strengthen the resilience of its power system. As electricity demand grows through electric vehicles and the electrification of heating and cooling, interconnection and energy storage will become increasingly important.
Poullikkas describes the two as complementary forms of flexibility: storage moves electricity across time, while interconnectors move it between locations.
A Wider Regional Opportunity
The project could also give Cyprus a broader role in the region. Poullikkas points to French company Meridiam becoming the majority shareholder in the Great Sea Interconnector, which he says could support its financial and technical development.
He also highlights the GSI’s connection to wider discussions around the Eastern Mediterranean Gateway Act and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). A future energy corridor could potentially link renewable resources in India and the Middle East with European markets through Israel, Cyprus and Greece.
Such a development could shift Cyprus from an energy consumer to an intermediary hub connecting European markets with the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.
Long-Term Strategy Required
Poullikkas stressed that this transformation would require more than the GSI itself. Cyprus would need sustained investment in renewable energy, electricity networks, storage, digital infrastructure and further interconnections, backed by long-term political consistency.
He also warned against assessing the project solely through short-term fiscal considerations. Remaining disconnected has its own costs, including dependence on imported fuels, limited renewable-energy integration and the need for additional reserves.
For Poullikkas, the GSI is therefore part of a much larger decision about Cyprus’s energy future.
“Previous generations handed us the infrastructure on which we built today’s Cyprus. It is our responsibility to hand future generations the infrastructure on which they will build their own,” he said.
