Filenews 1 July 2022
Seven decisions concerning the "future" of electricity in Cyprus are the "conclusion" of the wide-ranging meeting at the Presidential Palace under the President of the Republic and the representatives of CERA and EAC. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Finance Mr. Konstantinos Petrides, the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Mrs. Natasa Pilides, the Deputy Minister to the President Mr. Petros Demetriou and officials.
As a result of the meeting, the following decisions were taken:
1) With the cooperation of the stakeholders to accelerate the investment activities of EAC to upgrade the organization's network in a way that will make it more efficient and flexible.
2) It was agreed to strengthen the staffing of EAC, in order to proceed with the process of upgrading the Organization's network.
3) In the context of the green transition policies promoted by the Government, a budget of € 80 million will be used from European funds for investments in large energy storage systems.
The above three measures will allow the faster penetration of RES in the energy mix of Cyprus and therefore there will be environmental and economic benefits.
4) The Ministries of Energy, Finance and CERA will study the possibility of a possible imposition of a tax or a fee on any over-profits of Renewable Energy Sources producers.
5) New measures that could be applied will be evaluated after the expiration of the existing measures that expire on August 31, including the possible granting of vouchers to economically vulnerable households to address energy poverty, in line with the European Union toolbox which gave guidance to member states to relieve consumers from fuel price increases.
6) Regarding the increase of the percentage of RES produced by EAC, a plan will be drawn up by the transmission and distribution operators of electricity which will be submitted to CERA for approval. The aim is to create a sustainable plan for the participation of EAC in RES.
7) Conducting a campaign to enlighten and inform the public about the options and ways that will lead to energy savings.
It is noted that the budget for the year 2022 for the installation of energy and the energy upgrade of households and businesses reaches € 100 million. Also, the imposition of reduced VAT on electricity at a rate of 5% for vulnerable households and 9% for other domestic consumers is still in force until August 31st.
