Filenews 16 November 2021
The Council of Ministers during yesterday's meeting approved the reforms concerning the modernization of the Electricity Legislation which focus on the following:
(1) Removal of the obstacles that exist in the basic law, regarding the Projects of Cross-Border Interconnection in the field of Electricity and in particular the Project of Common Interest (interconnection of Cyprus – Israel – Greece) that is in progress and is required to be completed in predetermined time frames, as provided for in Regulation (EU) 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the 17th April 2013, on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure.
(2) Alignment with the amendment of the Electricity Market Regulation Laws 2003 – 2018, Regulations and other relevant legislations due to the upcoming liberalisation of the electricity market.
(3) Regulation of the possibility of installing and operating and maintaining a private system of tax pipelines, which is imposed for technical reasons due to the construction of multi-storey buildings. This will enable the Electricity Authority of Cyprus to be able to install electricity meters on intermediate floors for the benefit of consumers in matters of safety upgrade and energy saving.
(4) Arrangements are laid down for the periodic inspection of activated electrical installations.
(5) The mandatory supervision of electrical installations by the Designers is included.
(6) The integration of inspections of electrical installations into a competitive market is regulated. At the same time, the ability of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus to participate in the competitive inspection market is regulated.
(7) A new licensing category for professional Electrical Engineers is created for the conduct of inspections of electrical installations.
(8) Possibility of assignment by the Director of the Department of H.M.Y. to the President of etek, the power to issue the license to practice the profession of Electrical Engineer - Designer by the ETEK.
(9) The way and criteria for the licensing of the whole range of professional electricians and businesses are modernised. At the same time, the requirements for lifelong learning as well as for maintaining professional insuring insurance by all professional electricians are defined.
(10) New criminal provisions are laid down, as well as the way in which a fine is imposed (extrajudicial and judicial) and the possibility for those affected to lodge a hierarchical appeal to the MMEE.
The above reforms will help, among other things, to upgrade the safety of users of electrical installations and their properties, to the more economical electricity market due to cross-border interconnections, to modernize the licensing of professional electricians, as well as to increase jobs.
