Terna bags EIB loan for 1-GW subsea link between Italy's boot, islands

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Tuesday it had signed a loan contract with Italian power grid operator Terna SpA (BIT:TRN), extending EUR 500 million (USD 504m) towards the costs of construction of a submarine link that will connect Sicily with Sardinia and the Italian peninsula.

The loan amount is the first tranche of the EUR-1.9-billion financing approved by the EIB to support the construction of the Tyrrhenian link, a 970-km (602.7 miles), 1,000-MW DC double submarine cable between the islands and Italy’s “boot”.

Terna plans to invest around EUR 3.7 billion for the whole project. It will use the first tranche to build the so-called “east section” link to connect Campania in the peninsula to Sicily, the EU bank said. The west section will extend the connection to Sardinia.

The first east section cable will be operational at the end of 2025, while the entire Tyrrhenian link will be fully functional in 2028. Once up and running, the link will contribute to the renewables development, power grid reliability and energy security, the EIB added.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.008)

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