In recent days, the debate over high electricity costs has returned to the forefront. Although all stakeholders agree on the need for an immediate reduction in costs for the benefit of the economy and consumers, the proposed solutions are medium-term, long-term, or have little impact on reducing electricity prices.
PEC, Cyprus’s first private power plant, has been completed and is ready to make a substantial and immediate contribution to ensuring an adequate electricity supply, fostering genuine competition, and reducing energy costs for Cypriot consumers by 30%.
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The project is a major private and Cypriot investment of strategic importance to the country, with a total value of €210 million. PEC’s operations are directly linked to citizens’ daily lives, business competitiveness, tourism, critical infrastructure, and the country’s economy as a whole. With the capacity to meet approximately one-third of the country’s electricity generation needs, the plant effectively resolves the issue of supply adequacy and lowers electricity prices nationwide.
The plant was originally designed to run on natural gas, but significant delays in its delivery led the Cyfield Group to make the necessary technical modifications so that the plant could, as a first step and immediately, operate on diesel, adding approximately 260 MW of generating capacity to the power system.
Although the work and preparations for the plant’s operation have been completed, its commissioning is being held up by an outstanding issue regarding the operation of the plant’s pumping station and its connection to the grid. Specifically, the EAC refuses to grant the necessary approval for the licensing of the pumping station, citing the lease of the plot of land on which it is located. It should be noted that this specific plot is not being utilized by the EAC, while PEC proceeded with the development of the infrastructure in question following recommendations from the Ministry of Defense and in exchange for offset projects totaling €2 million, which have already been implemented.
The EAC’s unjustified stance is delaying the integration of significant new generating capacity into the grid and objectively serves to maintain its dominant position and perpetuate the high cost electricity in the country. At the same time, it limits the development of meaningful competition and delays the benefits that citizens and businesses could derive from the operation of PEC.
At a time when public debate is rightly focused on energy security, power outages, and high electricity costs, the answers must come in the form of concrete projects and real investments. Cyprus cannot afford to keep spare generating capacity off the grid when citizens and businesses are bearing the brunt of the energy sector’s chronic weaknesses.
