(Bloomberg) --
Greece and Egypt will this week ink a preliminary deal to build a large electricity cable connecting the two countries, the first such agreement to be signed between Europe and Africa in the southeastern Mediterranean.
Ministers from the two nations are set to sign a memorandum of understanding on Thursday, a spokesman for the Greek Environment and Energy Ministry said.
Egypt, which has a surplus of electricity, began talks a year ago to sell power to Europe, pressing its advantage as a producer of cheap renewable energy in a bid to become a regional export hub. It's been in discussions with Greece and Cyprus in recent months to build a subsea cable linking the three countries.
The MoU will be signed by Greek Environment and Energy Minister Konstantinos Skrekas and Egyptian Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker.
A separate deal will be signed in Nicosia between Egypt and Cyprus on Oct. 16 by Cypriot Energy Minister Natasa Pilides and Shaker, a person familiar with the matter said. The two deals with Egypt are part of a trilateral agreement between the countries to link their power grids that's due to be signed soon, the person said.
Egypt signed an initial agreement on the EuroAfrica Interconnector with Cyprus and Greece in 2019 with the leaders of the three nations declaring their support for the project in October 2020.
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