Public consultation underway for largest solar power plant in Cyprus

AGM Lightpower has submitted an environmental impact study for a 72 MW photovoltaic park with a 41 MW battery system in Cyprus, near the capital Nicosia.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment has received an environmental impact assessment study for a 72 MW solar park, which would currently be the island’s biggest by far. The public consultation is underway until 2 April for the project, developed by Limassol-based AGM Lightpower and its affiliate AGM Solar Power.

The firm, founded five years ago, said it would integrate a battery system with 41 MW in operating power and a capacity of 82 MWh, using Huawei’s LUNA2000-2.0MWH-1H0/2H0 lithium-ion devices of 1 MW each. The company has said that it would cover the project with own funds. The site is 185 to 210 meters above sea level. The nearest house is 30 meters west of the location while the closest settlement is 300 meters to the northwest.

The photovoltaic plant with storage, an investment estimated to be to the tune of €77.15m, is planned to be built near the villages of Akaki and Kokkinotrimithia in the Nicosia district. It would span an area of 820,000m2 of state land, which would be taken under a lease. The solar park is envisaged to be made up of 114,297 panels, separated into 11 segments of 3 MW to 8 MW each, on both sides of a road.

As first reported on the site Balkan Green Energy News, investors in solar and wind power are increasingly adding storage to their projects and the trend has swiftly picked up in the region tracked by Balkan Green Energy News. Batteries enable operators of such systems to sell electricity at times of day when prices are higher and to adjust delivery according to their contracts. Storage also makes it possible for them to provide balancing and flexibility services.

In addition, grid operators are already giving priority to projects that include battery facilities in the lists for connection, as networks are becoming congested.

Two solar farms of 7.5 MW each were installed in Kokkinotrimithia back in 2020, just 1.2km away from the planned project, while several more, smaller facilities are being planned in the area.

AGM Lightpower received an environmental permit a year ago for a 1.5 MW solar power plant with 500 kW of storage in the municipality of Geri in Nicosia.

Cyprus hosts photovoltaic installations of over 350 MW in total, of which more than 140 MW is in net metering systems. Recently a grid overload triggered an emergency mechanism and some smaller solar power plants were briefly disconnected, highlighting the need for investment in the network and the deployment of storage systems.

(Source: balkangreenenergynews.com)