Filenews 5 July 2022
A dialogue with stakeholders in the field of energy took place on Tuesday at an online event of the Representation of the European Commission in Cyprus in relation to the challenges and opportunities of the REPowerEU plan for a green transition and the implementation of energy and climate goals.
The event was a first opportunity for EU policymakers and relevant stakeholders from the energy sector to discuss Cyprus' energy renewal to ensure energy affordability, security of supply and sustainability.
The main objective of the event was to hold an open and constructive dialogue between the participants, in order to gather comments on the adopted and upcoming legislative initiatives, but also to provide answers to the concerns of the stakeholders.
For the EU, the gradual phase-out of Russian fossil fuels is key. To this end, the Commission proposes to develop a REPowerEU project that will increase the resilience of the energy system at EU level on the basis of two pillars:
Firstly, the diversification of gas supply, by increasing imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and imports through pipelines from suppliers outside Russia, as well as by increasing the volume of production and imports of biomethane and renewable hydrogen.
Secondly, rapidly reducing the use of fossil fuels in our homes, buildings, and industry, as well as in the electricity system, by enhancing energy efficiency, increasing renewable energy and electrification, and addressing infrastructure bottlenecks.
The event started with three speakers from the European Commission. Melina Boneva, a member of the Recovery and Resilience Task Force, made a general presentation of the REPowerEU plan, saying that it is a plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate the green transition through energy saving, diversification of energy supply and accelerate the development of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels in homes, in industry and power generation.
In a comment by the CNA on the lack of tree planting in cities and the importance it would have in climate change and energy saving, Ms. Boneva said she recently visited Cyprus and added that "it is indeed not the greenest island it was a hundred years ago" and referring to tree planting in cities, she said that "this kind of measures could fit perfectly into the climate change strategy being worked out by the authorities in Cyprus".
Ignacio Asenjo, from the Directorate-General for Energy, spoke specifically about solar energy, saying that in Cyprus water heaters are very popular on the roofs of buildings but said that more photovoltaic panels should be developed and Cyprus cannot rely on diesel, while Feodora Petit, head of the gas markets team at DG Energy, he said that the goal of the REPowerEU project is to get rid of Russia's gas which is a major challenge and talked about renewable hydrogen and biomethane.
From Cyprus, Dr. Venizelos Efthymiou, President of the Energy Sustainability Research Unit – FOSS of the University of Cyprus, said that Cyprus "has a right and must take a big breath, it's time for a complete independence from the introduction of expensive and polluting fuels with a plan". There must be, he said, an acceleration of the use of renewables in energy production, industry, buildings and transport.
Dinos Nikolaidis, President of the Energy Policy Committee of the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK), said that the building stock in Cyprus has been recorded, which shows about 300,000 buildings that need thermal insulation to improve energy efficiency, and high levels of sunshine are recorded in Cyprus, which is highest in all EU states. It was used, he said, in the past with great success for the production of hot water and now we can use it for electricity production eg with photovoltaics in many places. He also referred to the EU-Israel and Egypt protocol on the supply of natural gas to Europe, saying that Cyprus should also be included in the equation.
Haris Kordatos, Head of the Department of Climate Change and Environment of the Cyprus Energy Agency, spoke about the national action plan for energy and climate, saying that a mechanism should be created to systematically monitor the achievement of actions that will oversee the timetable and promote corrective actions in case it is needed and referred to the importance of the role of local authorities in achieving the goals.
The ensuing dialogue was moderated by Dr Theodoros Zachariades, Professor at the Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Water of the Cyprus Institute.
Christos Paschalides, Senior Economic Advisor / Member of the European Commission's Task Force on Recovery and Resilience said that the event was the beginning of a continuous dialogue with stakeholders for the adequate and timely preparation of Cyprus for the green transition.
