Nexans' cable-laying vessel Nexans Aurora in Esbjerg harbour, Denmark (file photo, March 2024). Photo: Thomas Dahlstrøm Nielsen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Greece-Cyprus Cable Slips Again as Nexans Eyes 2028 Restart and 2031 Completion

24 Oct 2026, 06:20 by Stella Mazonakis · Greek City Times

The Greece-Cyprus cable has suffered another setback. French cable maker Nexans now says production for the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) may not restart until 2028, while Cyprus’s energy regulator has pushed the project’s expected completion back a full year, to January 2031.

Nexans fills its factory with other work

Nexans chief executive Julien Hueber told analysts during the company’s nine-month results presentation that the firm has secured an alternative project that will keep its cable plant busy until mid-2028, according to Kathimerini.

“With or without the GSI, our forecasts do not change until 2028,” Hueber said.

He explained that the extra time allows Nexans to pursue other Mediterranean projects for the period after mid-2028. Equally, if the GSI restarts, it gives time to complete the seabed surveys, preliminary engineering and financing so the work “can start from 2028”.

Asked about surveys resuming and the €25 million payment Cyprus has yet to make, Hueber was cautious. “At this moment, discussions are under way at a political and diplomatic level and I will let the political processes unfold,” he said.

Regulator: completion now January 2031

Meanwhile, in Nicosia, the head of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA), Polys Lemonaris, told the House Energy Committee on 20 October that the original January 2030 target now looks like January 2031. He said the regulator had received a letter from Nexans, via the project promoter, referring to the new date.

Lemonaris also warned that the €1.9 billion budget no longer looks realistic. “It is certain that it will be more than €1.9 billion,” he said, adding that the final figure depends on the remaining seabed surveys.

So far, about 280km of cable has been laid out of a roughly 900km route between Crete and Cyprus, while a further 232km has been manufactured but not yet laid. About 60% of the seabed surveys are complete, and the remaining 40% would take around six months.

Ownership questions after Meridiam deal

French infrastructure investor Meridiam has acquired 66% of the company behind the project, while Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO/ADMIE) keeps a minority stake and remains project promoter. However, CERA says it is still waiting for IPTO to answer questions it sent in August about ownership and management after Meridiam’s entry.

Turkey and the Greece-Cyprus cable surveys

The delay of the Greece-Cyprus cable also has a strong diplomatic dimension. In July 2024, Turkish warships shadowed a survey vessel off Kasos. The surveys later stalled, and reports say they will resume exactly where they stopped, at the edge of Greece’s six-nautical-mile territorial waters off the island.

The French-flagged survey vessel Abeille Marengo left Naples on 23 October and is due in Heraklion on 27 October. Even so, it is awaiting a Greek NAVTEX, which reports expect in early November.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Ta Nea that Ankara would not object if it received written notice with the survey coordinates. In response, Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said Greece is “the only country from which authorisation will be requested”, although information could be shared without it being an authorisation procedure.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has said Cyprus will release its first €25 million contribution once a NAVTEX is issued for the surveys.

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