The new president of the EAC (Electricity Authority of Cyprus) stated that there will be a meeting today with CERA (Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority) regarding issues concerning both bodies.
Information suggests that the EAC’s application to CERA for licensing two new power generation units in Dhekelia will be discussed. We caught wind that the topic of accelerating the licensing process will also be on the agenda.
We wrote yesterday that it’s urgent to expedite the licensing process. However, it’s crucial for EAC to correctly fill out its applications, not just to inform in writing that it will complete the missing information by July!
And it’s urgent that once the licenses are issued, an alarm is raised for their swift implementation.
Otherwise, by the summer of 2025 (if not sooner), we might be playing with fire, potentially making headlines in international news agencies as the EU country facing electricity sufficiency problems, having four “idle” units (with a total capacity of 360-380 megawatts) inactive due to lack of fuel (natural gas).
It would be beneficial for EAC to be represented by its entire board of directors and the competent executive directors, or at least by a representative team, at the meeting.
The one-man show we witness in the media, starring the president of EAC, poses a risk to the authority, Mr Petrou himself, and the board members.
EAC has been in a bad state for years. To get moving—before it’s entirely too late—requires collective hard work from the management, EAC’s service, and the council, based on exhaustive consultations, studies, and planning.
The image of an EAC president telling us one day that a storage unit would be constructed in Dhekelia but then deciding against its construction, and the next day (Monday) announcing that the storage unit will be built, is concerning. EAC is not a grocery store, nor is it a gas station.
The image of a president stating that the 6th unit can only burn natural gas but efforts are being made for it to also burn hydrogen, while hydrogen as a reliable fuel for power generation is a matter for many years ahead, is also troubling.
The image of a president declaring that EAC was interested in buying licenses for the construction of renewable energy parks but found them to be prohibitively expensive (300,000 per megawatt, he said!), while it recently applied to CERA for such licenses, is worrying. Who deemed the licenses at 300,000 too expensive?
Mr Petrou, the board, the management? If they were asked 300,000 for a megawatt, they should buy them all.
But let them tell CERA definitively, do they want ready-made licenses or not? And why only licenses? Why not also buy private green electricity through tenders, to offer us cheaper electricity, since some have forced them to lag in the green transition?
Yesterday, EAC told us that it sent a classified letter to CERA regarding its position on 6% increases.
Doesn’t the public have the right to know what exactly EAC is asking for? Do they want the 6% increase or not? If not, why did they request them in July? What changed? Perhaps ONLY the request of the President of the Republic not to impose increases? At a time when the Government’s decision will lead to an 8-cent increase in fuel prices on April 1st, apart from increases due to the international market and green taxes?
We don’t know what the classified letter contains. However, we do know that after a multi-day analysis of the financial data, the management and the majority of EAC’s board deemed the requested increases justified.
At some point, we will learn what Mr Petrou wrote in the letter and will revisit this topic.
To be precise, we hope it’s a letter signed by all board members.
