A solar park on privately owned land in the area of Nicosia Airport, within the municipal boundaries of Lakatamia Municipality, will be constructed following the positive opinion of the Environmental Authority.
The 56MW solar park is owned by Soletus Ltd.
The entire project will cost €40 million. All provisions have been taken in the project design to avoid any phenomena of solar radiation reflection on the pilots approaching the airport runway.
Following consultations with the Ministry of Defense, the Department of Civil Aviation, the Department of Public Works, the approval of the hydrological/flood study by the Water Development Department, and subsequent recommendations from the Game and Fauna Service for “exclusion zones” to safeguard and environmentally highlight areas of the parcel, a final redesign of the layout of the photovoltaic panels was made.
The development is located northeast of Nicosia Mall. The parcel abuts the Kokkinotrimithia – Troodos highway to the southwest, while the northern part of the parcel is within the Dead Zone.
The project involves the construction and operation of a 56MW photovoltaic system for the production of electricity from solar energy and its supply to the EAC grid.
It will consist of 80,586 photovoltaic panels mounted on bases. Additionally, an energy storage system with a capacity of 21MW will operate.
Until now, the under-study plot was mainly used for cereal cultivation. The Indirect Study Area (ISA) is mainly characterized by extensive areas of arable land, bare agricultural land lying fallow, scrub vegetation, and some areas in the wider area where fruit trees are cultivated.
In some areas of the development site, earthworks are planned to shape the terrain to create a suitable surface for the installation of the proposed photovoltaic parks to ensure better and more efficient operation of the proposed project.
During the operation of the project, the impacts mainly concern the increase in the existing noise level to a small extent during the construction and maintenance periods of the photovoltaic system.
The proposed development may constitute an obstacle to the livelihood and movement of wildlife and migratory birds.
The Game and Fauna Service recommended additional “exclusion zones” to safeguard and environmentally highlight areas of the parcel. According to on-site visits, bird and flora recordings in the Immediate Study Area (ISA) in the relevant Environmental Impact Assessment Study (EIA), it was revealed that these areas do not constitute areas of high natural value, so their environmental conservation was agreed.
The opinions were taken into account in the terms of the opinion.
The final project design took into account the positions of the Department of Public Works, the Department of Civil Aviation, as well as the initial recommendations of the Game and Fauna Service for “exclusion zones.”
