NICOSIA - Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Paschalides outlined today the government's energy policy which aims to alleviate the island's dependency on fuel imports.Addressing the 8th MEDREG General Assembly hosted in Nicosia, Paschalides pointed out that Cyprus as an island away from various international networks of electricity oil and gas, has to rely almost exclusively on imported fuels to satisfy its energy needs, adding that in 2008 more than 94% of total energy consumption is supplied by imported fuels. ''Oil imports are a considerable burden on the island’s economy,'' he said.Paschalides added that the Cypriot new Support Scheme to promote the use of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), covering the period 2009-2013, provides more generous incentives than the previous Scheme and sets more ambitious targets for the increase of the utilization/contribution of the country’s main renewable energy sources, to the total electricity consumption and overall to the total energy balance. According to Paschalides, Cyprus ranks 6th highest in the EU per capita, with about 3MW of photovoltaic systems already installed, 4.4MW of biomass utilization units, while a wind park with a capacity of 82MW, estimated to contribute approximately 2-3% of the island's electricity production from RES, will be in operation by the end of 2010.The Minister also said that to achieve its main goals as dictated by its Energy Policy, the government decided to switch over to using natural gas as the main fuel for power generation and to establish an onshore terminal with facilities for import, storage and regasification of liquefied natural gas, as well as an oil products terminal with facilities for the import, storage and handling/distribution of all petroleum products traded in Cyprus. ''The Energy Centre, once established, will be an integrated, state of the art and of significant importance, infrastructure facility and will have provisions to run as hub for fuel storage and distribution of oil products in the Mediterranean region, where the demand for oil products is very pronounced, therefore enhancing the security of supply of the region'', Paschalides concluded.