TEN PHOTOVOLTAIC PARKS WITH A CAPACITY OF 26.7 MW ARE IN THE WORKS - THEY ARE PLANNED TO OPERATE ON LAND OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SQUARE METERS - Filenews 10/4 by Vassos Vassiliou
Ten photovoltaic parks, with a total capacity of 26.7 MW (megawatts) are in the works and are planned to be installed on tens of thousands of square meters of land throughout Cyprus.
Only one of them, with a capacity of 7.99 megawatts, is planned to operate on an area of 90,497 square meters (sq.m.) while the second in size is intended to operate on land with an area of 46,538m2.
The third largest photovoltaic park (2.76 megawatts) is planned to operate in an area of 26,090m2.
For the ten photovoltaics, environmental studies have already been prepared and have been put to public consultation. Some of them will also store significant energy.
The photovoltaic parks under promotion are planned to operate in the following areas:
> In the community of Avdellero (Larnaca district), with a power of 1.43 Megawatts.
> Kornos (Larnaca district) with a capacity of 3.8 megawatts.
> Milia (Paphos) with a capacity of 1547 KW.
> Agia Varvara (Nicosia) with a capacity of 1.20 megawatts.
> Pachna (Limassol), with a capacity of 2.5 megawatts.
> Anogyra (Limassol), with a capacity of 1.5 megawatts.
> Lania (Limassol), with a capacity of 2 megawatts.
> Dromolaxia (Larnaca), with a capacity of 2.76 megawatts.
> Tersefanou (Larnaca), with a capacity of 2 megawatts.
> Tseri (Nicosia) with a capacity of 7.99 megawatts.
Many of the areas in which the photovoltaic parks are intended to operate fall within an agricultural zone, something for which in the past there had been reactions even from the Parliament, in the sense that under certain conditions it could be used for agricultural purposes. On the other hand, the position is put forward that the operation of photovoltaic parks will have a positive impact on the renewable energy sector, contributing significantly to the reduction of the use of conventional fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. Some plots in which the photovoltaics will be installed also fall into other urban planning zones (in addition to agricultural ones).
The largest photovoltaic park in terms of power and area will be created in Tseri, with the area of land to be used amounts to 90,497 square meters.
The proposed location of the project is approximately 1,140 meters from the residential area of the Municipality of Tseri and nine of the plots of land on which the photovoltaics are proposed to be installed fall under urban planning zone Γα4, "Agricultural Zone". In addition, part of two pieces fall under zone Da2, "Protection Zone".
It is worth noting that 14,014 photovoltaic panels will be required for the completion of the photovoltaic park installations.
Regarding the second, in size, photovoltaic in Kornos, with a capacity of up to 3.8MW, the Environmental Impact Assessment Study states that the Electricity Storage System will have a capacity of 3MW/12MWh.
It is also stated that the purpose of its operation is the production and marketing of electricity and its contribution to increasing the percentage of use of renewable energy sources in Cyprus and at the same time, to reduce the percentage of use of conventional fuels for electricity production.
The photovoltaic will be located at a distance of approximately 550m northwest of the boundaries of the residential core of the Municipal District of Kornos. Also, the neighbouring areas of the study area are as follows: Community of Pyrgoi, Larnaca, about 14m northeast of the boundaries of the proposed plots, 3.7km from the Municipal District of Delikipos and 2.8km from the community of Mosfiloti. Reference is also made to a small number of individual dwellings in the vicinity of the project, with the nearest single dwelling located at a distance of approximately 55 metres, northwest of the boundaries of the proposed project.
The production system will be fully automated and controlled by a central monitoring system. The energy that the photovoltaic system will produce, according to its maximum capacity, is estimated at 8,200MWh per year.
In agricultural and protected zones, the installations
According to the study, within the plots, scattered tree crops (olives) and wild vegetation are mainly observed. The plots are used for agriculture by growing grains. The western border is adjacent to the old Nicosia-Limassol road (B1) and at a distance of about 80m west of its boundaries is the Nicosia-Limassol highway (A1).
From research that has been done in the archive of the Department of Environment, the granting of a positive environmental opinion to a photovoltaic park has been identified. It is worth noting that the plots of the proposed project fall within the urban planning zone Z1. Urban planning zone Z is a protection zone (Archaeological sites, areas of natural beauty, forests, protected landscapes, landforms, fertile/irrigated land/land consolidation, rivers/argakia, boreholes, etc.).
The nearest Residential Zone (H2) is located at approximately 235m northwest of the boundaries of the proposed project and the nearest Agricultural Zone (C3) is located at 10m northeast.
In the wider area, there is also a concrete breaker unit.
It is noted that the trees around the perimeter of the plots of the proposed project will be preserved and therefore, they will be able to be used by the bird fauna of the area for feeding and resting.
