Filenews 30 June 2022 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The Electricity Authority of Cyprus is getting into trouble due to its inability to adapt the boilers at the Dhekelia power station to operate with less polluting fuels. The decision to keep the polluting power station of Dhekelia in operation, in violation of a Community directive on industrial emissions, has led the Government to proceed with legal measures against the Authority.
Speaking before the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment during the discussion of the issue of the need to take immediate measures to address the pollution caused by the boilers of the EAC power station in Dhekelia, the senior Environmental Officer, Chrystalla Stylianou, said that since an Industrial Emissions Permit (SA) cannot be granted by the Minister of Environment for the operation of the plant in Dhekelia, the Department of Environment is obliged to proceed with a report to the Attorney General for taking action against the EAC. Furthermore, he added, the Commission will be informed of a violation of the directive. Cyprus, he noted, is not in a position to terminate the operation of EAC's steam boilers for reasons of adequacy of the system and therefore a working group has been set up to prepare the relevant material for the meetings with the Commission's officers.
According to Ms. Stylianou, after the assumption by the Department of Environment of the responsibilities for air pollution in October 2021, the discussion of EAC's applications for the renewal of the SA license began, since the derogation and the relevant hours given for the operation of the unit by the Commission were expected to expire. He explained that there were two meetings of the Ministers of Environment and Energy on the issue where the issue of the violation of community and national legislation and the fact that the SA licenses for both Vasilikos and Dhekelia were closed. It was pointed out that in the event a permit cannot be granted if the problems with the building permit and the certificate of final approval are overcome at Vasilikos. As regards the Dhekelia station, it was found that no licence could be granted as long as obsolete locomotives remain in operation. The ideal for the Republic is to end the operation of the Dhekelia station, but there is a risk that the country will be left without electricity.
Referring to the issue, the production manager of EAC, Haris Menelaou, stressed that the Authority had a derogation from the Commission for the operation of the Dhekelia plant for 18,000 hours which could be exhausted in four years, from 1/1/2020 – 31/12/2023. The extension of the opening hours – he noted – was completed on 19/1/2022.
On behalf of the Ministry of Energy, Stella Hatzigiannakou said that the derogation given to the Republic was based on the isolation of the system and the security of the country's energy. He added that CERA has justified the coverage of production and supply sufficiency and therefore the Dhekelia station had to continue to work.
