Filenews 21 March 2023
The procedure for granting permits for the installation of photovoltaic systems in buildings presents a number of problems, since despite the legislation passed by the Parliament to process the applications within a month, no state agency implements it, the Parliamentary Committee on Energy reported on Tuesday.
Members of the Committee where the issue was discussed, speak of "incredible suffering" of citizens, who respond to the call for a green transition and installation of photovoltaic systems, however, state agencies pose obstacles and impose bureaucratic procedures.
As mentioned at the meeting of the Energy Committee, according to statements by MPs, the Ministry of Interior issued a decree, which essentially made it forbidden to install photovoltaics in 168 communities.
They explained that the communities in question were classified as special in nature, but instead of entering into the decree only the listed buildings or the core, the entire area of each community was inserted, with the result that the installation of photovoltaics was prohibited even in the new buildings, which are obviously not listed and are located kilometers away from the core of each community.
Moreover, according to the decree, each district administration applies its own rules, while as it emerges from the discussion in the competent Committee there is no homogeneity in the procedure for completing and submitting applications, causing long delays in their approval.
The members of the Energy Committee called on the competent authorities to cooperate and submit a specific proposal to solve the problems observed, while warning that otherwise they will proceed with the promotion of a proposal for a law, on the basis of which they will request a change of the Law on the Regulation of Roads and Buildings.
In a statement, the President of the Energy Committee, Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, called the process "wretched and unacceptable", while calling on the executive to revise the decree.
He warned that otherwise the competent Committee will proceed with the preparation of a proposal for a law, on the basis of which they will request a change in the Regulation of Roads and Buildings Law.
"Unfortunately, this state is implementing various policies that contradict an overall course concerning Renewable Energy Sources. It is with great concern that we observe these attitudes, where kingdoms raise their own flag at the expense of the national interest. This happens in the case of RES or in other words in the case of the application of photovoltaic installations on the roofs of houses", said Mr. Hatzigiannis.
He added that the agencies "have created between them such a situation of procedures, such a situation of bureaucracy, that at the end of the day no one comes out of it", adding that "regardless of the fact that the law tells them that in a month at the latest, without any condition, they will have to answer the people and give them the relevant permission to apply photovoltaics on the roof".
According to Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, "they produce bureaucracy and a lot of inconvenience to the world and consequently endanger the investment interest that the place needs to have for investment purposes in the field of RES".
AKEL MP Kostas Kostas said after the session that in October we found that the decree, issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had not yet been issued. Internally, it created some very serious problems, to add that they had given the possibility by decree to Municipalities and Communities to impose a fee, something that did not exist previously.
He also said that the services were asking for much more documents than before, while noting that the Commission had intervened and managed to change the decree.
Referring to the new decree, issued in November, Mr. Costas said that "it clearly says that no fee should be collected and also says that the procedure should be simplified."
"Unfortunately, we have learned in recent days from citizens that the new decree has also created some other much more serious problems. The most serious thing is that there is Annex Z which mentions 168 communities in which you basically cannot install photovoltaics in houses or even worse a building permit is required on the grounds that they are villages of special character or with separate architecture or have listed buildings," he said.
In addition, he said that each Local Government authority asks for different data, adding that "according to the notes we received from the Associations dealing with the installation of photovoltaics, we see that in one municipality they may ask for 2-3 documents and in another municipality they ask for 15".
He stated that "if we really want RES to penetrate significantly into the electricity balance, if we really want with the accuracy that exists in Cyprus today with electricity, to give the opportunity to people to put photovoltaics, the procedures should be simplified, the bureaucracy should stop and each authority should now ask for what the other asks for"
