Cyprus to acquire its first wind park

Cyprus government signed on Friday a contract for the construction of the island's fist wind park, expected to be completed in mid 2010.

The park, one of the biggest in the Eastern Mediterranean, will have 41 wind turbines of 2,0 Megawatts each and a total capacity of 82MW. The park, to be constructed at Orites region in the western city of Paphos will cost 155 million euro and will be funded by the European Investment Bank with 65 million euro as well as from a partnership of other international banking institutions.

The contract was signed in the presence of Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Paschalides by the Ministry's Permanent Secretary and President of Cyprus' Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Fund, Evgenios Hampoullas, and A. Ellinas and E. Collins on behalf of the company to construct the project (D.K Windsupply Ltd).

According to the contract, the company will supply Cyprus Electricity Authority with energy for the next 20 years at the price of 0.166 euro per kilowatt hour (kwh).

The projects contribution of energy produced by Renewable Sources is expected to be 2.5%-3.0% by 2011 while it is estimated that carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 97.105 tones annually.

The operation of the wind park is considered as a step towards meeting EU objectives relating to energy production from renewable energy sources amounting to 13% by 2020.