Source: China Embassy
On July 9, 2020, Ambassador Huang Xingyuan attended the foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of a LNG terminal in Cyprus, which will be undertaken by a consortium led by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Corporation. The Embassy’s Commercial Counselor Mr. Li Yaohui was also present at the ceremony.
The ceremony was attended by President Nicos Anastasiades, incumbent Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Georgios Lakkotrypis and Minister-to-be Natasa Pilides, Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Costas Kadis, and Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Yiannis Karousos. President Anastasiades said that the day was a historic landmark that officially marked the implementation of a project of strategic and national importance, which placed Cyprus on track for a new energy era. After the project is completed, Cyprus’ carbon footprint would be reduced by 30 per cent, thus saving a large amount of environmental taxes, and would also lower electricity generation costs from 15 to 25 percent. President Anastasiades said he will closely follow the progress of the project, hoping to be present for the facility’s inauguration before the end of his last presidential term in 2023.
The project is located at Vasilikos Port near Limassol, the second largest city in Cyprus, and is close to the largest power plant in Cyprus, the Vasilikos Power Plant. The consortium led by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Corporation will be responsible for providing an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a capacity of not less than 125,000 cubic meters, construction of the offshore infrastructure (a jetty bridge of about 1.5 km) and a natural gas pipeline to Vasilikos Power Plant (a 24-inch pipeline of about 2 km).
The cost of the project is €290m, with a total O&M cost of €210m based on a 20-year O&M period. The project will be partly covered by a grant of €101m Connecting Europe Facility from EU, and funded by a total of €230m preferential loans from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Furthermore, it will also secure €43m equity investment from the Electricity Authority of Cyprus.
