EU to invest 4 million in solar energy in Northern Cyprus

The European Commission has started a project to build a pilot solar power plant for the Turkish Cypriot community that will deliver electricity to the grid in 2009.

A concept study is currently being prepared by experts to determine the optimal solution and location for the exploitation of sunlight to produce electrical energy in the northern part of Cyprus.

The pilot power plant, which will generate a maximum of approximately 1 MW, is planned to be built and put into operation in the summer of 2009. The energy exploitation is expected to be over 1.5 million kWh per year.

In order to demonstrate the particular opportunities for Cyprus in renewable energies and to explain respective technologies, the energy experts held a seminar at the EU Programme Support Office in the Greek Cypriot part of Nicosia yesterday morning in the presence of European Commission officials and representatives of Kıb-Tek. The two topics presented in the gathering were 'The Global Energy (R)evolution' and 'Solar Power Generation - State of the Art and Prospects for Cyprus',  followed by an open discussion.

The National Unity Party wins North Cyprus vote

The opposition in Northern Cyprus has won a landslide victory in elections that some analysts say may jeopardize efforts to reunite the ethnically divided island.

With 100 per cent of the ballot counted, the right wing National Unity Party (UBP) clinched 44.06 per cent of the vote, giving it by provisional accounts a majority in the 50 seat parliament. It was a stinging defeat for the ruling Republican Turkish Party (CTP), a key ally of Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader.

The CTP, which bore the brunt of public discontent over a faltering economy and continued international isolation of the breakaway territory, took 29.25 per cent of the vote. About 162,000 people were eligible to vote for the 50-seat parliament in Northern Cyprus.

The election outcome would not directly affect President Talat, who began unity talks with Greek Cypriots in September. But victory for the UBP is likely to limit Talat's ability to negotiate a settlement.