10/21/2009
Greece - EAC to buy 113.5 MW from Cyprus private wind farms
Cyprus has moved closer to reaching the European Union's renewable energy target by 2020, with the birth of the first wind park on the island, as the state-owned Electricity Authority of Cyprus has pledged to buy 113.5 megawatts of energy from two new operators – Orites wind farm in Paphos and Ketonis wind farm in Larnaca.
With the EAC’s installed capacity presently at 1170MW, the two wind farms will supply the public utility with the equivalent of 10% of its current generation needs, until three further projects add some 840 MW more to its electricity network.
The first wind park in Orites near Paphos, expected to be operational by next summer, was inaugurated last week with the EUR 200 mln 82 MW project billed the largest of its kind in the Mediterranean region.
"It is a very big project. Normally in Europe - especially in Greece and Spain - they consider 20 to 30 MW a huge project, so 82 MW is a massive project. It is the biggest in the region," Akis Ellinas, chairman of the wind farm D.K. Wind Supply Ltd., told Reuters.
Financing for the project was secured by British company Platina Partners, with the European Investment Bank providing 50% of the loan under a conventional project finance structure.
Once operational, the site -- which is the first to benefit from the new 20-year fixed rate tariff recently approved by the Cyprus government and the EU Commission -- will be home to 41 turbines.
Split into two phases encompassing 140 MW in total, the 16 square km wind farm is the first private sector power project on the island.
"It was very difficult because we faced governmental people who had no idea what energy or wind farms meant. Some people thought it was a monster, others, something from space," said Ellinas.
According to estimates, Cyprus has enough wind capacity to keep the towering white windmills turning to power 50,000 households, save 100,000 tons of carbon emissions and produce 120,000 Kilowatt hours of energy annually.
"Cyprus is not among the windiest areas in the world. I'd say we have something in the region of 6 meters per second and around 1,600 hours annually. But with new technology, like the Vestas 2MW V90 turbines which we are installing at the moment, it helps," said Ellinas.
"That represents almost 3% of Cyprus's requirements toward EU regulations and targets," Ellinas said.
For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net
With the EAC’s installed capacity presently at 1170MW, the two wind farms will supply the public utility with the equivalent of 10% of its current generation needs, until three further projects add some 840 MW more to its electricity network.
The first wind park in Orites near Paphos, expected to be operational by next summer, was inaugurated last week with the EUR 200 mln 82 MW project billed the largest of its kind in the Mediterranean region.
"It is a very big project. Normally in Europe - especially in Greece and Spain - they consider 20 to 30 MW a huge project, so 82 MW is a massive project. It is the biggest in the region," Akis Ellinas, chairman of the wind farm D.K. Wind Supply Ltd., told Reuters.
Financing for the project was secured by British company Platina Partners, with the European Investment Bank providing 50% of the loan under a conventional project finance structure.
Once operational, the site -- which is the first to benefit from the new 20-year fixed rate tariff recently approved by the Cyprus government and the EU Commission -- will be home to 41 turbines.
Split into two phases encompassing 140 MW in total, the 16 square km wind farm is the first private sector power project on the island.
"It was very difficult because we faced governmental people who had no idea what energy or wind farms meant. Some people thought it was a monster, others, something from space," said Ellinas.
According to estimates, Cyprus has enough wind capacity to keep the towering white windmills turning to power 50,000 households, save 100,000 tons of carbon emissions and produce 120,000 Kilowatt hours of energy annually.
"Cyprus is not among the windiest areas in the world. I'd say we have something in the region of 6 meters per second and around 1,600 hours annually. But with new technology, like the Vestas 2MW V90 turbines which we are installing at the moment, it helps," said Ellinas.
"That represents almost 3% of Cyprus's requirements toward EU regulations and targets," Ellinas said.
For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net
- Source:
- Online editorial www.windfair.net
- Author:
- Posted by: Trevor Sievert, Online Editorial Journalist
- Email:
- ts@windfair.net
- Link:
- www.windfair.net/...
- Keywords:
- wind energy, renewable energy, wind turbine, wind power, wind farm, rotorblade, onshore, offshore, Principle Power
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