Progress on Cyprus-Egypt energy projects

The technical committee working on a joint gas pipeline project between Cyprus and Egypt will convene on 15 September, said Energy Minister Natasa Pilides.

The minister said she was very satisfied with her meetings in Cairo over the weekend on the joint venture.

The Energy Ministers of Cyprus and Egypt also decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the electricity interconnection (known as the EuroAfrica Interconnector) between the two countries in the coming months.

A Cyprus business delegation will also travel to Egypt to improve the trade of goods and services.

Pilides met Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tariq Al-Mulla and Nevin Gamea, Minister of Industry and Trade of Egypt during the first Intergovernmental Meeting.

A government statement said the meetings were “very constructive and totally productive”.

“The Minister is very satisfied with the decisions taken to promote a series of important policies between the two countries and expressed certainty that in the next months’ many of these issues will make progress”, it added.

Ministers called for the speeding up of deliberations of the joint committee instructed to implement the intergovernmental agreement for the construction of a direct marine pipeline to transfer natural gas from the offshore Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus to liquefaction plants (which convert gas into a liquid state) in Egypt.

A meeting of the relevant technical committees will convene in Cairo on 15 September to examine the various scenarios regarding the capacity, technical specifications, and economic aspects of the pipeline.

Both Egypt and Cyprus expressed their commitment to further promote the international organisation «East Mediterranean Gas Forum» (EMGF), where the two countries participate as founding members.

“The hard work that has taken place in the first year since it was set up, has led to the participation of eight countries and three more as observers including the US and the EU.”

Cyprus has assured that when it undertakes the

presidency of the EMGF from 1st January 2022, it will work in coordination with the Egyptian side to implement the common goals for the efficient use of the energy resources of member states and transition to green energy.

“One of the most important decisions of contacts in Cairo was the memorandum of understanding that will be signed in the next months for the electricity interconnection between the two countries,” said the statement.

Pelides invited her counterpart to pay an official visit to Cyprus to sign the memorandum.

The trilateral memorandum of Understanding between Cyprus, Egypt and Greece will then be planned, to promote the electricity interconnection of the three countries through the «EuroAfrica Interconnector» project.

It was also agreed to exchange know-how in these sectors, especially on the use of solar thermal and photovoltaic systems, as well as green hydrogen production.

In the field of trade, business forums will be established to strengthen bonds between the two chambers of commerce.

The aim, said Pilides, is to increase trade in services and goods, especially pharmaceuticals and aquaculture products.

A business meeting will be held in Cairo in the next few months between Cypriot and Egyptian businesspeople.