ENERGY

According to sources, investments related to the construction of components and equipment for electric vehicles, ie batteries, transformers, chargers and general components related to this particular supply will be subject to low tax rates and reduced employer contributions.

The bill ratifying the agreement between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, was approved earlier this week, together with a series of developments on licensing and finance issues, confirming efforts made so far. However, we are far from considering that the EastMed is a viable pipeline that can turn Greece into a strong energy player in the Eastern Mediterranean.

A move that is the first step in launching the tender for the concession of the facility, one of the many links in the ambitious plan to turn northern Greece into a strong regional energy hub, along with the Alexandroupolis FSRU and the TAP, IGB pipelines. In the underground infrastructure, it will be possible to store, in exchange for a price, of course, natural gas for a long time, a possibility that does not exist today in Greece, despite this being provided in many other European countries.

The first phase of the privatization winds up today with the expiration of a deadline for those submitting initial interest in the Greek asset. Two Italian companies, SNAM and Italgas, are getting ready to battle it out for the privatization of DEPA Infrastructure amidst strong international interest for the tender deal.

On Thursday, Mytilineos announced the sale of a 47MW portfolio of solar parks to Motor Oil for 45.8 million euros. The target for Mytilineos over the next five years is to build and sell energy parks with a capacity of 1500 MW mainly abroad, where it has a large portfolio of projects in countries such as Australia, UK, Spain, Cyprus, South Korea, and Mexico.

Vinci does business in energy efficiency, constructions, and other infrastructure projects via its subsidiary Vinci Energies, which reported revenues of 12.6 billion euros in 2018. Almost 30 percent of revenues came from industrial installations, such as building production lines, while another 30 percent came from energy projects. 

"We are open to discuss proposals to combine the Israel - Cyprus - Greece project with other interconnections, either within Greece or with other countries of the Eastern Mediterranean," Deputy Environment and Energy Minister Gerassimos Thomas said to ANA.

The Terminal comprises a floating LNG storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and a 28 km pipeline system. The LNG storage capacity of the FSRU will be up to 170,000 cubic metres and the maximum daily regasification capacity 22.7 million c.m.

Referring to his trip to Benghazi, he said that "the Greek side believes it should have a clear communication with the leader of the Libyan National Army after its leader had expressed his full disagreement on the memoranda signed by Turkey and the government of Tripoli" on maritime zones in the East Mediterranean.

The natural gas project in Alexandroupolis - including a terminal station for liquid natural gas (LNG) - will open up the market of natural gas to more competition, and is both an EU Project of Common Interest (PCI) for a connected European energy grid and one strongly supported by the United States.