METU Northern Cyprus Campus Electrical and Electronics Engineering Program Coordinator Prof. Dr. Murat Fahrioglu stated that the submarine electrical connection project planned between Turkiye and the TRNC is technically ready.
Fahrioglu, who works on the electricity connection between Turkiye and Northern Cyprus and is also a member of the Joint Energy Working Group established between Turkiye and the TRNC, told the Anadolu Agency (AA) about the work on the project, which aims to provide energy to the TRNC through the submarine electricity connection from Turkiye.
Regarding the characteristics of island networks, Fahrioglu said, “Island networks are very sensitive networks because they are small and isolated, and they generally need connection to mainland networks that are much larger than themselves. Many islands around the world are either connected or are about to be connected to larger networks.”
Referring to the work carried out between Turkiye and the TRNC in this direction, Fahrioglu said, “An energy agreement was signed between Turkiye and the TRNC in 2017. A Joint Energy Working Group was established between the two countries. I am also a member of this board. As a result of our studies, it was decided that the electrical connection between countries would be best done in the HVDC-VSC model.”
Fahrioglu stated that after the aforementioned model was decided on in the project, Turkiye Electricity Transmission Inc. and Cyprus Turkish Electricity Corporation were working on the details of the connection and said, “This connection project is ready for technical issues. This connection type is currently the most common inter-country connection type in the world.”
Fahrioglu stated that they focused on 3 routes close to each other with a length of approximately 85 kilometers and different scenarios for cable capacity were studied. “It can also be advanced by pulling the cable at high capacity and gradually increasing the converter stations, because the most arduous part of the project is laying the cable on the submarine.”
“Line connection with Turkiye increases the share of renewable energy in the TRNC electricity system”
Referring to Turkiye’s installed power and diversity of resources, Fahrioglu said, “Turkiye’s grid is available to increase the rate of renewable energy as it has 3 lines connected to Europe and has healthy HEPPs. Turkiye is also a member of the European Networks Union and is the second largest network of this union after Germany. This connection provides great benefits to Turkiye and its affiliated countries (Greece and Bulgaria) in technical, economic and environmental terms.”
Expressing that the situation in Northern Cyprus is different, Fahrioglu said:
“Total installed usable power is around 400 megawatts. Most of this is currently based on fossil fuels. The TRNC electricity grid is not a very healthy network as it is an island country and has no connection to other countries. If we add to this that there are only two main power stations feeding the grid, we know that the grid collapses very easily in troubled situations. This is why power cuts are so common in Northern Cyprus. The power plants in hand cannot respond to sudden demand changes in certain situations, and even minor problems have bad consequences.”
Drawing attention to the contribution that the electrical connection to be made with Turkiye will make to the TRNC, Fahrioglu said, “If there is a line connection with Turkiye, the TRNC will be connected both to Turkiye and indirectly to Europe. This raises the electricity quality in the TRNC grid and helps the system in terms of frequency health, security of supply and many other technical aspects. It also maximizes the amount of renewable energy that can be added to the system.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan went to the capital of the TRNC, Nicosia, on Monday as part of his first overseas visit after being re-elected as president. Erdogan stated that they discussed all the issues on their agenda in detail at the joint press conference held with TRNC President Ersin Tatar after the tete-a-tete and between delegations meetings at the Presidential Palace. “Of these, undoubtedly, the most important step will be to provide electricity transfer from Turkiye to Northern Cyprus via cable regarding the electricity problem. With this, there will no longer be a problem such as power cuts in Northern Cyprus.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz