Turkey starts Cyprus water supply project

Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay (L) inspects one of the waterpipes that will carry water from the southern Turkish province of Mersin to Turkish Cyprus.

Πηγή: Hurriyet Daily News
By AMAMUR-Anatolia News Agency
Oct 15 2012

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in southern province of Mersin for the Turkish Cyprus Water Supply Project on Oct. 13.

Work on the project that foresees 75 million cubic meters of water being transferred from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus is continuing simultaneously in both countries.

The project is an international water diversion project designed to supply water for drinking and irrigation from southern Turkey to Turkish Cyprus via a pipeline under Mediterranean Sea. The project will be carried out by the Turkish State Hydraulic Works (DSİ). It consists of the construction of a dam and a pumping station at each on both sides, as well as a pipeline of 107 km running mainly under the sea.

The project will be completed in 2014

Water will be carried to Geçikköy Dam in Turkish Cyprus via an 80-kilometer pipeline, 250 meters underwater. The water pipeline project is planned to be completed by March 14, 2014. The estimated cost of the project is 1.1 billion Turkish Liras.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Irsen Küçük, Turkish Cypriot Economy and Energy Minister Sunat Atun and other officials attended the ceremony.

The project is expected to be completed on March 7, 2014. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Atalay said that they took another important step today for the project of the century and that Turkey would continue to assist Turkish Cypriots.

The water project will be followed by another project to transmit electricity to Turkish Cyprus via underwater cables, Atalay said. “We intend to complete the electricity-transmission project at about the same time as the water project,” he said.

Energy company plans Greece, Cyprus, Israel cable link to convey gas-generated electricity

Πηγή: Washington Post
By AP
Jan 23 2012

NICOSIA, Cyprus — A Cyprus-based company says it’s planning to lay a 2,000 megawatt undersea electricity cable linking Israel, Cyprus and Greece.

Quantum Energy official George Killas told The Associated Press Monday that the cable aims to relay electricity to Greece and the rest of Europe that will be generated from Cypriot and Israeli natural gas deposits recently discovered in the eastern Mediterranean between the two countries.

Killas said the company, whose main shareholders include Greece’s state-run Public Power Corporation, hope to start the €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) project early next year following approval from Israeli, Cypriot and Greek authorities.

The 998-kilometer (620-mile) cable that will reach a maximum depth of 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) will take around 3 years to complete.

Athens considers energy connection with Cyprus

Greek Energy Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou

Πηγή: ekathimerini
Jan 16 2012

The construction of an underwater pipeline for the transmission of natural gas from Cyprus to Greece via Crete is absolutely feasible from a technical aspect, Greek Energy Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou argued in an interview with the Cyprus edition of Kathimerini on Sunday.

Papaconstantinou confirmed that Athens has the draft version of a study on the subject and explained that the implementation of the plan will depend on its economic viability. The study was conducted by the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA). Papaconstantinou added that Greece is also ready to receive natural gas in liquefied form.

The minister stated that during his talks in Nicosia last week, the issue of the interconnection of the two countries’ power grids was discussed so that the Cypriot electricity network could be linked to that of continental Greece.

The possibility of connecting the two countries’ natural gas and electricity networks is seen as bringing an effective energy union between Greece and Cyprus closer.

Asked whether he foresees a standoff with Turkey in the energy domain, the minister responded that “the reaction of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean has more to do with its differences with Greece and Cyprus than with the issue of energy per se.”