Italy and Greece have announced plans for a 1 GW subsea interconnection cable. The submarine cable, valued at €750 million ($794.9 million), will connect a new converter station in Galatina, Italy, with a station in Thesprotia, Greece.

Terna, the Italian grid operator, has launched a public consultation for the GR.ITA 2 project. The €750 million subsea interconnection cable will connect Italy and Greece via two 250 km-long submarine cables with a capacity of up to 1,000 MW, as well as two 50 km-long direct current terrestrial cables.

“The new interconnection between the Italian peninsula and Greece will allow the safe management of the entire southern area and will favor efficient energy supplies, thanks to the possibility of enabling new resources through the coupling of the electricity market and maintaining the exchange of energy between the two countries even in the presence of maintenance operations,” Terna said in a statement.

The submarine cable will connect a new converter station in Galatina, southern Italy, with a station in Thesprotia, in Greece's Epirus region

“Terna, with the support of the Puglia Region and other regional administrations, has started the voluntary consultation process as early as 2022,” said Terna.

The project proposal will be presented in a series of events open to citizens and all stakeholders, scheduled from Oct. 13 to Oct. 25. The project aims to increase the interconnection capacity between the two countries, which is currently being provided by a 400 kV/ 500 MW submarine cable that was commissioned in 2022.