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Cyprus Energy Resources and Mining
Turkish Cypriot manufacturing faced frequent power
shortages
because virtually all electricity consumed in the "TRNC"
came from
power plants in the Republic of Cyprus. Until the second
half of
the 1980s, the "TRNC" received electricity in exchange for
water it
supplied to the republic. By the late 1980s, however, the
republic
had made extensive investments in water management
facilities, and
no longer needed water from the "TRNC." A result of this
independence, Turkish Cypriots contended, was that the
provision of
electricity to them was frequently, even daily,
interrupted for
short periods beginning in the late 1980s. To counter the
uncertain
supply of electric power, Turkish Cypriots began
constructing an
oil-fired power plant near Kyrenia. Financed by Turkey,
the plant
was scheduled to go into production by 1993 with a
capacity of 120
megawatts and an annual production of 750 million
kilowatt-hours.
Greek Cypriot opinion about the power plant was mixed. Its
construction would mean that the Republic of Cyprus would
no longer
need to supply the "TRNC" with electricity. The resulting
energy
independence of Turkish Cypriots would, however, make them
less
susceptible to Greek Cypriot pressure.
Like Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots were entirely
dependent
on imports for petroleum. All petroleum imports were in
the form of
finished products because the "TRNC" had no refineries.
Mining was once quite important for the Cypriot
economy, but by
the late 1980s it represented only 0.3 percent of the GDP
of the
"TRNC." There was some mining in the area around Lefka,
but about
90 percent of mineral deposits of value were in the
Republic of
Cyprus. Minerals in the "TRNC" that could be exported
included
cuprous and iron pyrites, chrome iron ore, manganese ore,
gypsum,
earth colors, and lime.
Data as of January 1991
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