Energyst installs 50 MW power plant in Cyprus

The power plant, installed by a team of 25 from Energyst in May and in operation since the start of June, will plug a gap in the state's power needs until the completion of a 50 MW upgrade to the existing Dheleia power station in 2009. The power station is close to Cyprus' main tourist centre, Larnaca.

Danish power specialist Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC) won the contract for the permanent upgrade to the Cypriot power station as well as for arranging the 50 MW of temporary power this year.

BWSC's John Olsen, who is responsible for the temporary power plant within the project team, said; "Although we have vast experience in delivering permanent solutions, this was the largest temporary power project we have worked on to date. The biggest challenge was a logistical one of getting the equipment on site and set up in time to go live. Energyst proved itself a great partner and we enjoyed excellent co-operation between the two companies."

Bert van Dijck, general manager for Energyst International, said it was an enormous project; "Our installation took a team of 25 professionals near on three months engineering and one month to install. However it was hugely successful and we know that the residents of Cyprus, both permanent and temporary, can rest easy in the knowledge that this summer there will be enough power to meet every eventuality.

Stelios Stylianou, generation development manager at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC), said; "We see the highest demands on our power in July and August. Air conditioning units take a huge amount of power in the very hot weather, alongside all the additional loads from tourists. We always plan our power requirements around the needs of these summer months."

In addition to providing the 50 MW of power, Energyst also had to supply step-up transformers and fuel tanks, sub-systems including a fuel distribution system, transformer and fuel cooling, a fire detection system and a remote monitoring and control solution to communicate within the EAC control room.

In total 120 containers of equipment left Europe for Cyprus in four batches from the end of March 2008. The 25-person Energyst team included power specialists from across Energyst's European sites and 10 technicians from Cyprus.

The temporary power plant is used for an average of 10 to 11 hours per day, but can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The installation team will return to Cyprus at the end of September to begin demobilising the plant.