Energy governance
to have a say in how the rest of the Israel-Cyprus-Crete cable will be built by setting its own ground rules for the converter station in Crete and issues of ‘interoperability’ with the rest of the EU-approved EuroAsia Interconnector, regardless of who builds it.
To ensure it can wield power within ADMIE, State Grid has pushed for the recruitment of more staff, with the TSO embarking on a hiring spree of 53 senior executives, new department heads and others.
A trade union-appointed board member accused the management this month of favouritism by sidelining “at least 10” qualified managers to be replaced by less qualified, yet loyal new staff.
This confirms a heated debate that took place in the Hellenic Parliament on March 7, 2019, when former New Democracy parliamentary spokesman and present-day Deputy Minister for Common Agricultural Policy Costas Skrekas, accused the then-Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis of blind-siding the assembly to hire 30 staff for ADMIE
through the back door.
The Atlantic Council, the Washington-based think tank promoting US-Europe relations, estimates that energy investments in BRI countries would add up to $27 trln by 2050, with $7 trln alone going to power grid construction.
According to the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organisation (GEIDCO), an advisory body set up by State Grid in 2016, the strategic plan is to build out and then connect the power grids of Eurasia and beyond, which is key to BRI’s energy component and “a personal project of Xi Jinping.”
This potential to grant China leverage over such a large economic swath “is a stark example of how the U.S. retreat from the international order is surrendering American power and influence in the 21st century,” the Atlantic Council said.
State Grid’s plan envisioned three phases in ‘Global Energy Interconnection’ transition.
In the first phase up to 2020, State Grid would promote the interconnection of national grids in various countries, including technical research, building smart grids, and accelerating the deployment of renewables.
Between 2020-2030, countries within a continent would connect their grids and develop “clean energy bases.”
In the third phase from 2030-2050, transcontinental grids would be linked via ultra-high voltage (UHV) “Afro-Eurasia Backbone Grids” comprised of 67 key projects along 126,000 kilometres with a transmission capacity of 410 gigawatts (GW).
China would thus play a leading role in international energy governance, fostering regional economic and political influence.
This has prompted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to recently warn America’s governors to be wary of China, which he said was targeting individual U.S. states in a strategic effort to expand its economic and political influence.
“The lesson is [that] the competition with China is not just a federal issue,” Pompeo said in addressing the National Governors Association meeting in Washington.
“It’s happening in your states with consequences for our foreign policy, for the citizens who reside in your states and indeed for each of you.”
Pompeo urged the governors to be wary of Chinese investment and influence, including through contacts with Chinese diplomats, students and organisations.
He conveyed similar warnings on a recent five-nation tour of Europe and Central Asia. During a stop in London, he declared the Chinese Communist Party “the central threat of our times.”