As Europe races to decarbonize its energy system and sever its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, a transformative infrastructure project is quietly taking shape beneath the waves of the Black Sea. The Black Sea Submarine Cable (BSSC) — a joint effort led by Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, Hungary, and supported by the European Union — is set to become a new backbone of transregional green energy cooperation.

At the core of this initiative lies a concrete vision for transregional energy connectivity. This ambitious project will directly link the South Caucasus and the EU via a 1,155 km high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable — the first of its kind in the region. By transmitting renewable electricity from Azerbaijan and Georgia to Romania and Hungary, the BSSC not only strengthens Europe’s energy resilience but also reshapes the geopolitical landscape of Eurasian energy.

Strategic Energy Bridge Between Regions

The BSSC is much more than a power transmission line. It represents a profound shift in the EU’s energy posture toward its Eastern neighbors. By forging a direct physical connection between the EU and the South Caucasus, the project sidesteps traditional transit routes, diversifies supply chains, and enhances strategic autonomy. The project also includes a high-capacity fiber-optic link, enhancing digital connectivity across the region — another strategic pillar of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy.

The cable is being developed through the newly established Green Energy Corridor Power Company, a joint venture of the national Transmission System Operators (TSOs) of the four partner countries. With its headquarters in Bucharest, the company positions Romania as a critical hub for the EU’s energy integration efforts in the Black Sea region. Bulgaria’sformal request to join the initiative in March 2025 further expands the corridor’s geopolitical footprint. 

Technically, at depths of up to 2,200 meters, the BSSC will operate on a ±500 kV bipolar HVDC configuration, capable of transmitting up to 1.3 GW of electricity — enough to power almost two million European homes. The system is expected to run at close to 90% capacity, with electricity flowing westward 78% of the time. The total project cost is estimated at €3.1–€3.6 billion, with an additional €70–90 million allocated for the data cable. Backed by €35 million from the World Bank for preparatory studies and seabed surveys, the BSSC has already been included in ENTSO-E’s Ten-Year Network Development Plan and is under consideration as an EU Project of Mutual Interest.

The economic benefits of the BSSC project will be distributed among all participating countries. The project will support the green energy transition in Georgia and Azerbaijan and EU. To better understand the transformative impact of the BSSC, it is essential to examine how this project aligns with the energy objectives of the participating countries.

For Georgia, the BSSC is a strategic milestone. With its abundant hydropower and pivotal location, the country is poised to become a clean energy hub for the wider region. The project will unlock the potential for large-scale balancing of intermittent solar and wind power, both domestically and for exports from neighboring Azerbaijan. Moreover, Georgia is also preparing to enter the green hydrogen market, aligning its national hydrogen strategy with EU demand projections and the Green Energy Corridor’s long-term vision. The BSSC thus enables Georgia to deepen its integration with the EU’s energy market while boosting economic growth, energy transition and energy security.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is positioning itself as a dual-energy exporter: maintaining its role as a conventional crude oil and natural gas supplier while embracing the green energy transition. With vast offshore wind potential in the Caspian Sea and growing interest in hydrogen, Azerbaijan is leveraging the BSSC to reach new markets and diversify its energy portfolio. By enabling large-scale renewable electricity transmission to Europe, the project supports Azerbaijan’s Energy Transition Strategy and helps to maintain its relevance as a regional energy exporter in a decarbonizing world.

Romania, the cable’s primary landing point, becomes the principal gateway for Caspian green electricity into the European grid. This pivotal role not only elevates Romania’s geopolitical relevance within the European Union but also directly supports its National Energy and Climate Plan, which prioritizes the expansion of cross-border interconnections and the integration of renewable energy sources. Hosting the corridor’s headquarters will create jobs, attract capital, and elevate the country’s geopolitical role in EU energy affairs.

Hungary views the BSSC as a critical component of its energy security strategy and diversification efforts. Hungary, which has long grappled with limited domestic resources and high dependence on Russian gas, sees the BSSC as a lifeline. The government has already committed to upgrading its internal grid to handle new inflows and is exploring additional storage and distribution infrastructure investments.

For the European Union as a whole, the BSSC serves multiple policy goals. It directly supports the European Green Deal and REPowerEU by unlocking access to clean, affordable energy from new sources. It also embodies the EU’s broader strategic pivot toward energy partnerships beyond Russia. By tapping into the vast renewable energy potential of the Caspian region, the EU can advance its green transition, support its climate neutrality goals, and strengthen energy resilience. The European Commission has announced its intention to provide EUR 2.3 billion. 

It is important to underline that the BSSC’s future may extend well beyond the Black Sea. In May, 2024, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum, marking a significant step towards interconnecting the energy grids of the three countries. Kazakhstan’s vast wind corridors and Uzbekistan’s solar-rich deserts are seen as the next frontier of green electricity exports. At the EU–Central Asia Summit in April 2025, leaders endorsed the idea of expanding the Green Energy Corridor eastward to include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan — countries with massive untapped solar and wind potential. Such an expansion could double or even triple renewable electricity flows into the EU in the coming decades.

Conclusion 

Despite its promise, the BSSC faces challenges such as financing, security and political commitment, stemming from the complex geopolitical landscape of the Black Sea region.  Still, the BSSC remains a singularly valuable endeavor. It offers the EU a direct energy link to a renewable-rich region, bypassing monopolistic control and reinforcing the continent’s clean energy sovereignty. If implemented successfully, it will form a core part of a future Eurasian green energy network that stretches from Central Asia through the South Caucasus to Europe. Shortly, at a time when energy security and climate action are inseparable, the BSSC delivers on both counts. Europe’s energy map is being redrawn and the Black Sea lies at its heart.

https://www.ludovika.hu/en/blogs/ludohub-blog/2025/05/19/the-black-sea-submarine-cable/