Meridiam Backs Cyprus Cable Budget

Cyprus remains the only EU member state whose electricity grid is still cut off from Europe's (European Commission). A subsea cable from Crete would change that. On 5 August, French infrastructure investor Meridiam signed an agreement to become the majority shareholder in Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), the company developing the cable (Baird Maritime, Proto Thema). For Cyprus, another small island state that knows what energy isolation means, the project has gained a serious financial backer. It still does not have a committed construction budget.

What Meridiam bought — and what's still missing

Meridiam is taking a stake of more than 50%. ADMIE, Greece's independent grid operator, had controlled the project since October 2023, when it took it over from an earlier development structure. ADMIE remains as a minority partner. It will lead the engineering work during development and operate the cable if it is built (Iefimerida). A separate agreement with French cable manufacturer Nexans covers seabed surveys, the technical work needed to confirm the route and conditions before construction can be locked in (Newsit).

That order of events matters. Seabed surveys come before the final investment decision, known in infrastructure finance as FID. That is the point at which sponsors stop preparing and actually commit the money for the full build. Meridiam's arrival gets GSI to the next technical stage. It does not yet get it across the financing line.

The financial terms have not been disclosed. Baird Maritime reported that no deal details were published (Baird Maritime). One Greek outlet cited a €250m Meridiam investment, but Meridiam has not publicly confirmed the figure (in.gr). The exact stake, board structure and equity commitment remain unclear.

Some money is already in the system. As To Brief previously reported, €251.4m had been paid to Nexans and 160 km of cable had been produced by the end of 2024, even though the full notice to proceed on a contract worth about €1.43bn plus VAT had not been issued. Nexans had also been negotiating a bridge order to cover the delay period (Capital.gr).

Who pays for the cable

The Crete-to-Cyprus leg carries a reported budget of about €1.9bn (Kathimerini, European Commission). An EU grant of roughly €657m covers about a third, from the bloc's programme for cross-border energy infrastructure (EUR-Lex). The remaining €1.24bn has to come from investor equity, bank loans and charges added to electricity bills.

Cyprus carries the heavier share. The agreed formula assigns 63% of the cable's costs to Cyprus and 37% to Greece. Cypriot regulators have already approved €125m in bill charges during the construction phase (Kathimerini). The pressure is not theoretical: Cyprus faces a possible power shortfall of roughly 750 MW after 2029 as ageing generators at Dhekelia and Vasiliko are retired, and planning assumed the cable would be running by 2030 (Cyprus Mail).

For Maltese readers, the issue is familiar. Interconnection can reduce isolation, but it does not make the bill disappear. Grid investments are recovered through network charges, the regulated additions to electricity bills that pay for infrastructure. Ireland's 2026 experience shows the mechanism: a decision there added about €41 a year to household bills to fund upgrades (The Irish Times). Cyprus, paying for a much larger project relative to the size of its electricity market, faces a sharper household impact.

The European Court of Auditors has warned that EU cross-border grid projects often run late even when the case for building them is strong (European Court of Auditors). GSI now has renewed momentum and a credible investor at the table. What it has not yet produced is the financing package that proves the cable can actually be built.