The joint effort by the public and private sectors is focused on reducing energy costs and ensuring a secure electricity supply, as highlighted during a conference organized today by the Federation of Employers and Industrialists (OEB).

The event was attended by the Minister of Energy, Trade, and Industry, Michalis Damianos, who presented the government’s plan for addressing the major challenges in the energy sector.

Read more: A crash test for electricity generation: The role of renewables, supply adequacy, and a mid-summer outage scenario

The OEB’s initiative aimed to bring together all relevant stakeholders to develop practical and immediate solutions. As noted by the organizers, the effort is based on three main pillars:

• an immediate reduction in energy costs for businesses and households,
• assessing the effectiveness of the competitive electricity market after nine months of operation,
• and the examination of alternative solutions, such as the introduction of natural gas, the use of hydrogen and green energy, with the aim of managing the constant price fluctuations that are undermining competitiveness.

When asked about the adequacy of the system and the possibility of immediately invoking Article 34 to meet summer demand, Mr. Damianos appeared cautious. “I think it’s difficult to see that happening so soon,” he stated, adding, however, that “the System Operator itself has acknowledged that we expect there to be problems this summer, so this is something we will address more collectively.”

Moving forward with solutions to stabilize the system, the Minister of Energy revealed that major storage projects are underway. According to him, the System Operator has already signed contracts for state-of-the-art storage systems (batteries) expected to arrive in Cyprus in January 2027, ensuring 120 MW of installed capacity before the summer of that year, while connection terms have been issued for an additional 150 MW from private investors.

“By the end of 2027, we will have several hundred MW of storage in the system, which will allow for a greater share of solar energy in our energy mix, helping to ensure energy sufficiency,” noted Mr. Damianos.

Nevertheless, Mr. Damianos was quick to clarify that batteries do not automatically solve all supply reliability issues.

“Storage alone cannot help with supply security, because obviously there are times of the year when there is no generation at all and when there will be no charged batteries,” he explained, adding, however, that forced curtailments of green energy from residential and commercial systems will be significantly reduced.

Referring to fuel prices, he emphasized the external nature of the fluctuations, saying, “Fuel prices are international. There are ups and downs, depending on the situation in the Middle East, and they are always a completely external factor.”

Finally, the Minister of Energy was asked to comment on the malfunctions of the competitive electricity market, which does not yet appear to be working to the benefit of consumers. Mr. Damianos acknowledged the magnitude of the issue, focusing on the technical infrastructure aspect:

“It’s a very big problem, which we’re certainly discussing. It’s mainly the system of settlements and clearings that we expect to be able to resolve,” he concluded, though he avoided going into further technical details at this stage.