Türkiye’s planned undersea gas pipeline to North Cyprus could eventually help supply electricity to both sides of the island, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said. Any sale of power to the Greek Cypriot south would depend on an agreement between the two sides.
Speaking to international journalists in Istanbul on Thursday, 5 November, Bayraktar said the initial plan was to pipe natural gas from Türkiye to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) for use in a gas-fired power plant. Once the north was generating electricity from the gas, it could sell some of that power to the Greek Cypriot side, Reuters reported.
The island’s electricity grids are already linked. In 2019, the United Nations announced that then Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades had welcomed the implementation of the link as a confidence-building measure. Bayraktar’s proposal raises the prospect of using that connection for electricity generated with gas supplied by Türkiye.
Seabed surveys extended to December
The 101 km (63-mile) route would run from Anamur in Türkiye’s Mersin province to Teknecik, east of Girne, where North Cyprus’s main power station is located. Around 97 km of the route would lie beneath the Mediterranean. The project is intended to reduce the TRNC’s reliance on imported petroleum products for electricity generation.
Türkiye’s Vice-President Cevdet Yılmaz and TRNC Prime Minister Ünal Üstel signed a memorandum of understanding on 10 July. As T‑VINE reported in October, Türkiye’s research vessel Oruç Reis surveyed the proposed route off Girne. A subsequent Turkish maritime notice extended seabed survey work until 31 December. Bayraktar has previously set a target of bringing the pipeline into operation in 2028.
The Greek Cypriot authorities have already objected to the pipeline. Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos raised it with EU counterparts in October, arguing that it would infringe the sovereign rights of the Greek Cypriot-administered Republic of Cyprus. His intervention concerned the pipeline itself and preceded Bayraktar’s remarks about a possible electricity deal.
Bayraktar also said the pipeline could carry gas in the opposite direction if Türkiye or another country made new discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean. Gas could then flow via Cyprus to Türkiye and on to European markets, he said.
