ROME: A 200-km-long underwater power line project connecting Italy and Tunisia to import electricity generated from renewable energy sources will be funded by the EU.
The European Commission announced on Thursday its green light to €307 million ($324 million) of funding for the project, which should cost around €850 million in total.
Terna, the Italian power grid operator that will run the project along with Tunisian company Steg, said that the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security has started the authorization process for the project, which will be partly funded by the Connecting Europe Facility program for the development of key projects to strengthen the union’s energy infrastructures.
“This new submarine power line will allow Italy to become the energy hub of all Europe,” Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italian environment minister, told Arab News.
Pichetto explained that his ministry will act quickly “to grant all the necessary authorizations so that the project can be completed as soon as possible.”
He added: “Italy and Europe need energy. Thanks to this power line coming from Africa, we are taking another step to eliminate our dependence on Russia for gas.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the EU’s support for the project, which she called a “historic success.”
The new underwater energy corridor between Africa and Europe “will promote energy supply security and increase the production of energy from renewable sources,” Meloni added.
