Filenews 3 August 2022 - by Chrysanthos Manolis
An important development for the promotion of the construction of the first private power plant with conventional fuels (natural gas) was announced yesterday by the company Cyfield, which holds the license for the construction of the PEC (Power Energy Cyprus) power plant, in Vasilikos, very close to the EAC station.
According to Cyfield's announcement, on July 15, 2022, the final financing (lending) agreement was signed, following a partnership between the Bank of Cyprus and Eurobank, for the completion of the construction of the plant. The loan, amounting to €120 million, which will cover the remaining cost of the construction of the power station, has been undertaken jointly by the Bank of Cyprus and Eurobank. According to the announcement, the company has already covered with its own funds the financial needs of the project to date and the total investment will amount to the amount of €200 million.
According to the company, the first conventional private power plant will have a total capacity of 260MW. "With great efficiency, it is estimated that the plant will significantly reduce the cost of electricity for companies and households. It will also come to cover the energy sufficiency of Cyprus, being able to work tirelessly for 30 years."
Cyfield's report that soon "the company will also enter the Supply of Electricity, offering the Cypriot consumer not only cheaper electricity but also better service" is also interesting. The construction of the 1st private Power Plant has been undertaken by Cyfield Construction Ltd.
According to an earlier update from the company itself, an agreement has been signed with the German giant Siemens, for the purchase of three generators, for the needs of the station. According to that update, the two gas turbines that Siemens will supply will be an SGT800 model, while PEC will also procure the steam turbine from the same company, which will use the exhausts of the gas turbines for very cheap production of about a third of the total power of the unit. The contract with Siemens provides, in addition to the supply of the three generators, for the provision of maintenance services of the unit for a period of 20 years and supervision services for the installation of the equipment.
But when is the gas?
According to yesterday's announcement of the company, the new power plant in Vasilikos will be completed in 2023. However, provided that its operation will be carried out with natural gas, it should be noted that the most optimistic plans of the Government and ETYFA (Natural Gas Infrastructure Company, a subsidiary of DEFA) foresee the arrival and use of natural gas at the end of July 2023. However, other sources dispute this prediction and argue that liquefied natural gas is capable of reaching Vasilikos and being regasified before 2024. On Sunday, in an interview with "F", the energy minister acknowledged that there is a delay in the construction of the infrastructure in Vasilikos. If the pessimistic predictions are verified, the opening of the PEC plant is likely to be delayed.
We remind you that EAC has already licensed the Greek company TERNA for the construction of a new combined cycle unit, with a capacity of 160 megawatts, in Vasilikos, with a planned delivery period in the summer of 2024. On the operation of these two units on time, the adequacy of electricity in Cyprus in the summer of 2024 will depend to a large extent, without this meaning that there is no risk of adequacy problems to occur earlier.
