Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Energy and Water Minister Joe Sadie to discuss a Cypriot proposal for an undersea cable to supply electricity from Cyprus to Lebanon, which could address Lebanon's ongoing energy crisis whilst enhancing regional cooperation in energy security.

The plan comes as Lebanon continues efforts to secure more stable power across the country as part of broader cooperation between Lebanon and Cyprus across infrastructure, energy and telecommunications sectors.

Cyprus has similar ongoing or planned projects to interconnect with neighbouring countries such as Israel and Greece with undersea electrical cables, making such infrastructure proposals credible and technologically feasible at the regional level.

While no official cost for a Cyprus-Lebanon undersea electricity cable has been published, experience with similar regional projects suggests a high-capacity HVDC link could cost in the range of several hundred million to €1bn, depending on final capacity, technical scope and other specifications.

There are existing agreements and ongoing projects between Cyprus and Lebanon to enhance energy and internet connectivity, with the most discussed cable project in telecommunications called CADMOS-2.

The CADMOS-2 cable will run between Pentaschinos in southern Cyprus and Beirut, replacing the older system that has been in place since 1995, aimed at improving communications and opening doors for investment in digital services.

Cyprus and Lebanon have worked together on internet and telecom projects for years, with Cyta leading many of these efforts to make high-speed internet more widely available.

The current proposal discussed between President Aoun and the minister is focused on electricity supply rather than data transmission, representing a strategic partnership that could significantly boost Lebanon's power generation capacity.

Official figures for the electricity cable project will become available after feasibility studies and detailed design are completed.