As the United States’ interest is increasingly switching to renewable energy sources, Washington is no longer supporting the construction of EastMed gas pipeline project, the US State Department said in its statement.
The construction agreement for the Eastern Mediterranean pipeline, considered a project of common interest of energy infrastructure in Europe, was signed in January 2020 by Cyprus, Greece, and Israel.
The project envisages the pipeline to transfer between 9 and 12 billion cubic meters of offshore gas a year between Israel and Cyprus to Greece, and then on to Italy and other countries in Southeastern Europe.
Pointing that the US remains committed to physically interconnecting East Med energy to Europe, the US State Department noted their focus is now shifting to electricity interconnectors that can support both gas and renewable energy sources.
On top of that, it’s possible that Washington may not want to sponsor competing pipeline gas as the US is interested in selling its own LNG.
At a time when Europe’s energy security is increasingly a question of national security, the State Department stressed its commitment to deepen the regional relationships and promote clean energy technologies.
According to the Biden administration, such a project will not only help the region to prepare for the clean energy transition but would also connect vital energy markets.
The US is now supporting projects such as the EuroAfrica subsea electricity interconnector from Egypt to Crete and the Greek mainland, and the proposed EuroAsia interconnector to link Israel’s, Cyprus’ and Europe’s electricity grids.
This has enticed Greece’s anger, especially because, as Greek media claim, the move profits Ankara, who has opposed the EastMed deal since the beginning as it is bypassing Turkey.
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at the time they won’t allow the success of any project disregarding Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, who have equal rights over Cyprus’ natural resources.
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