Energy market, EuroAsia Interconnector are priorities
Establishing the island’s electricity market, promoting green energy projects, and the EuroAsia Interconnector top Cyprus’ Energy Regulatory Authority’s (CERA) to-do list.
President Nicos Anastasiades said Monday that authorities are concentrating on carrying out a national strategic plan to turn energy into a driving force for wealth, welfare, security and environmentally sustainable development.
Talking during the reappointment ceremony of Neophytos Hadjigeorgiou as a CERA board member, President Anastasiades reaffirmed that the authority is focused on creating a competitive and healthy electricity market.
CERA is also tasked with lifting the island’s energy isolation, the arrival of natural gas and creating a market for it while also increasing the contribution of Renewable Energy Sources to Cyprus’ energy mix.
“In the past two years, we have made significant steps forward.
“Within the framework of our national plan, the regulatory framework for the competitive electricity market has been voted on”, said Anastasiades.
“We have adopted the National Plan for Energy and Climate with a horizon of implementation in 2030, which is based on the recommendations of the European Union Green Agreement on achieving climate neutrality by the year 2050.”
Anastasiades said the government secured a EUR 657 million grant from the European Commission for the EuroAsia Interconnector that links Cyprus’ electricity grid with Israel and Crete.
A further EUR 100 mln will be pumped into the project through the EU-backed recovery and resilience funded “Cyprus – Tomorrow”.
The President said his government has also signed several trilateral agreements with Egypt and Greece to establish a second interconnector, known as the EuroAfrica
Interconnector.
Anastasiades also referred to the promotion of 223 commercial RES projects, which will boost the country’s electricity production capacity by another 700 MW.
Some 80 mln are earmarked for energy storage projects. “In addition to what I have mentioned, we will be pushing for the implementation of reforms, investments and incentive plans, which include upgrading the energy efficiency of buildings and increasing RES projects’ contribution to the energy mix.
“The Cyprus- Tomorrow fund will provide some EUR 269 mln.
“Our actions so far indicate the substantial progress we have made on decoupling from conventional forms of energy and ensuring energy efficiency and security for our country, for the benefit and protection of the consumer.”
Hadjigeorgiou said: “The period we are going through is characterised by intense turmoil due to the war in Ukraine, the electricity and gas markets are being tested, while prices are moving at ever-higher levels for consumers”.
He said CERA’s priority is to ensure the reliability of the energy system while achieving the demanding goals set for the green transition and reducing the country’s economic reliance on carbon fuels.