Filenews 3 November 2022 - By Chrysanthos Manolis
Two serious problems are preventing for the time being - and will probably continue to hinder for a long time - the acceleration and significant increase of the installation of commercial systems for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) and, above all, the increase of their participation in the coverage of electricity consumption in Cyprus.
The first problem is the specific limits set by the size of the electricity transmission and distribution network in some areas, combined with the concentration of interest of RES entrepreneurs in specific geographical points. Already, in some areas the transmission network cannot accept additional RES parks or is approaching its saturation and requires upgrading of substations or construction of new ones, which requires a lot of time and a lot of money. There are also problems in the distribution network, as many connection requests are concentrated in the same -popular- points, resulting in a delay in their approval, requiring the extension of distribution lines and at the same time "releasing" capacity in the transmission network.
The second problem concerns the de facto inability of the small and isolated electricity system in Cyprus to function adequately without some conventional EAC units being in operation, in order to ensure the continuous production of energy and the stability of the system.
Without the operation of electricity storage systems and without interconnection with other electrical networks, it is completely impossible (even in times of sunshine) to meet all the demand for electricity from RES, even if the installed RES capacity allowed it. It is constantly necessary to operate some oil units for stable and absolutely predictable production. The power of these conventional units that must be in operation depends on many factors, including overall demand, weather conditions, season, breakdowns, maintenance.
The need to operate conventional units obliges the Cyprus Transmission System Operator (TSO) to disconnect, often, from the grid part of the electricity production from photovoltaic or wind farms, especially during periods when consumption is at low levels, i.e. autumn and spring. During these periods, a part of the electricity produced from RES becomes "unneeded", which is "discarded", so that the system can continue to operate safely, based on conventional production. Therefore, as long as adequate storage systems are not installed in Cyprus (the Government is in the tender procedure for the supply of such systems) and the interconnection promoted by the EuroAsia Interconnector is not put into operation (expected no earlier than the beginning of 2028), the penetration of RES in the electricity balance cannot be significantly increased. It is also necessary to expand - upgrade the transmission and distribution system, for the redesign of which a study requested by the TSOC and EAC by the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) is in progress.
Increased contribution to needs
Despite the problems mentioned above and hindering for the time being a greater penetration of RES in the electricity balance, significant steps have been taken in the last few years to increase the contribution of green electricity to meet the needs of the country, to the extent that in some periods of time the coverage of electricity needs from the production of installed RES reaches even 62% of total demand.
According to TSO, the average penetration rate from RES for the year 2021 was 14.9% of the total electricity production, a percentage that will obviously be increased in 2022. Today, approximately 550 megawatts of RES systems are installed in Cyprus, compared to about 1,500 megawatts from conventional EAC plants. Yesterday, at 12 noon, the total electricity consumption was 589 megawatts, of which 340 were produced by EAC units and 246 by RES systems.
INTERESTING
Constantly connected and more
The existing technical or systemic restrictions on the development of many more RES in Cyprus have not weakened the interest of businesses and private consumers. As EAC informed us, approximately 29,100 photovoltaic systems have already been connected to the grid, with a total capacity of 135 megawatts. The interest continues and is great. Commercial parks with a capacity of 100 megawatts have also been connected in the last two years, as part of the 1st plan of the MoD Energy and it is underway - and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023 - the connection of another 225 megawatts, the second project. Preliminary connection terms (outside plans) were issued for another 77 megawatts of photovoltaic parks. In total, the installed RES capacity is 550 megawatts.
