French infrastructure investor Meridiam has agreed to become the largest shareholder in the Great Sea Interconnector, strengthening the financing structure of the planned subsea electricity link between Greece and Cyprus.
The project is expected to require approximately €1.9 billion of investment. The European Union has already allocated €657 million, leaving more than €1.2 billion to be covered through shareholder capital, project debt and regulated network revenues.
Under the current cost-allocation framework, Cyprus is expected to carry 63% of the project cost and Greece the remaining 37%. This allocation reflects the greater strategic benefit for Cyprus, which remains the EU’s last non-interconnected national electricity system and is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels.
Meridiam’s entry gives the project an experienced private infrastructure investor with a long investment horizon, but it does not remove its principal development risks. These include construction complexity, seabed conditions, regulatory cost recovery, geopolitical tension in the eastern Mediterranean and the affordability of network charges for Cypriot consumers.
Greek transmission operator ADMIE, the project company and cable supplier Nexans are preparing a separate agreement for seabed survey work. The surveys are technically necessary before construction, but they are also politically sensitive because parts of the planned route cross waters affected by competing Greek and Turkish maritime claims.
Meridiam’s participation deepens the project’s French industrial and financial backing. Nexans has already been selected to supply the submarine cable system, making France a central participant in both the ownership and delivery structure.
For Cyprus, the cable could reduce dependence on oil-fired generation, create access to the larger European electricity market and improve the system’s ability to accommodate solar generation. It could also provide an export route during periods of surplus renewable output, although the economics will depend on hourly spreads, cable losses and the availability of flexible generation or storage.
The investment case must accommodate the project’s unusually high technical and political risk. Subsea cables of this scale face potential cost escalation, schedule delays and specialised-vessel constraints. A 12-18 month delay would increase interest during construction, defer regulated revenue and place additional pressure on shareholder returns.
The interconnector nevertheless carries strategic value beyond its immediate commercial cash flow. It would end Cyprus’s electricity isolation, strengthen eastern Mediterranean energy integration and create infrastructure capable of supporting a more renewable generation mix. Meridiam’s commitment provides a credible financial anchor, but the decisive stage will be converting that backing into completed surveys, final financing and uninterrupted offshore construction.
