Greece is proposing to European Union to import natural gas or electricity from North Africa as alternative to the energy crisis. At door steps comments ahead of the European Council meeting on Thursday, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that he would brief his counterparts on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean that “could, under certain conditions, be an alternative energy source for the European Union”, through the transfer of either natural gas or “green” electricity from North Africa (Egypt), via Greece.
Some possible options would be buying natural gas from the EU or increasing the storage of natural gas to prevent short-term price spikes when consumption needs rise, he reportedly said.
He added that the energy issue is likely to dominate the meeting’s agenda.
In this context, the East Mediterranean could conditionally become an alternative source of energy for the European Union, Mitsotakis pointed out.
For example, “liquefied natural gas could be transported from Egypt to Greece and then to the European gas network, or electricity could be produced in North Africa under ideal conditions and be transferred by cable from Egypt to Europe through Greece,” he noted.
The East Mediterranean’s security acquires a different significance under this light, he said.
It should be recalled that at the Trilateral Summit with Egypt and Cyprus in Athens three days ago, PM Mitsotakis vowed to link Egypt’s energy grid to the European Union with an underwater cable
Greece has ideal conditions to produce huge amounts of solar eneegy itself. He shouldn’t promote importing energy from North Africa, but rather establish a good energy industry in Greece.