Filenews 29 October 2024
In today's lengthy statement, the trade unions active in EAC criticize the Ministry of Energy for sloppy and knee-jerk actions or decisions in relation to the electricity market and the emerging gas market.
They warn that if the Ministry of Energy does not take the decisions that belong to it without further delay, so that the two new flexible power plants and the storage system, licensed by CERA, are installed as soon as possible at the Dhekelia plant, there will be a serious problem in electricity adequacy, with the risk of total extinction.
The risk of electricity shortages is made more serious, warn the trade unions, by the delay observed in the arrival of natural gas, which will keep the 6th EAC unit in Vasilikos inactive (it is in its final stages of completion), as, according to the workers, EAC has been forced to install a unit that will not be able to burn oil in the intermediate stage until the import of natural gas.
We note that the private PEC faces a similar problem of inertia, as its units at its under construction station in Vasilikos (260 megawatts) also burn only natural gas and any conversion to diesel will require time and money.
We quote the announcement of the EAC trade unions:
"We come back with another serious issue, concerning the Energy Sector, which affects the cost of electricity, in order to highlight the entrapment brought about by the actions of the competent Ministry in the Energy Sector, with its erratic and regressive approaches and we point out the following.
The Ministry, while initially assigning EAC the arrival of Natural Gas in the area, then after some time and while the Authority was ready to proceed, this leaked serious doubts whether it would be transported by pipeline from the deposits of the surrounding area or in liquefied form from another market. It then removed this obligation from EAC and created the Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA) to which it assigned this mission.
The state, in view of the small size of its Natural Gas needs compared to other European States and in order for the goal of its arrival to be feasible, after receiving the necessary approvals and exemptions from the European Commission, declared the Natural Gas Market as Emerging. The Emerging Market aimed primarily to collect all quantities of Natural Gas from all existing and potential users, aiming at the lowest cost of importing it into the country. In addition, the Emerging Natural Gas Market protected and protects new electricity producers, who will use fewer quantities of Natural Gas than EAC.
We were surprised to hear the proposal of the Ministry of Energy to abolish the Emerging Natural Gas Market, and in fact it was supported by the Emerging Market protégé, President of the Electricity Market Association (SAH), who stated that "this is the way to create real competition in the electricity sector".
This fact confirms once again the sloppy way with which the Ministry handles serious energy issues. Once again we see a change of attitude of the Ministry, as has been done repeatedly over the last 20 years, with unpredictable consequences in the Energy Sector.
The Ministry, acting spasmodically and unsubstantiated, puts on the table a new proposal without reflection, ignoring the consequences, which will bring additional delays. In our opinion, it is yet another action, which does not differ from previous announcements, which distracts from the essence of the issue, which is not the Emerging Market, but the non-completion of the necessary infrastructure for the reception of Natural Gas.
Regarding the statements of the President of SAH (George Chrysochos) that competition in the import of Natural Gas will bring about a reduction in the price of electricity, we fail to understand them. While he talks about competition, at the same time we have been informed that he is marginalizing him and has approached EAC's Production Department in order for it to lift its demands regarding his illegal interference with EAC assets and possible cooperation in the Production Sector. Therefore, we call on EAC Generation to ignore this intervention and not to advocate illegal actions, which significantly affect the proper operation of Vasilikos Power Station and the Desalination Plant, as well as not to enter into cooperation that will violate the well-understood interest of the market and competition.
The delay for gas
The non-arrival of natural gas until today, which is unfortunately referred to the following years, has resulted in rendering inactive the 6th Unit in Vasilikos, which the Ministry and CERA obliged EAC Production to operate exclusively with natural gas, without the possibility of intermediate operation using another fuel, as EAC has always done. The installation of this Unit had been deemed necessary for security of supply and adequacy, as estimated for 2024. The lack of supply is now tangible and the possibility of total extinction is visible, as the problem is already real and the Ministry and CERA, which are responsible, are otherwise turbulent.
The station in Dhekelia
We remind you that the Ministry of Energy and CERA, having been exposed with their short-sighted and erroneous aspirations for the sole production point of Vasilikos Power Station and the simultaneous dismantling of Dhekelia Power Station, finally adopted EAC's constructive proposals, abandoned their wrong plans and accepted the development and modernization of Dhekelia Power Station, so that there is sufficient and dispersed production on site. However, while decisions were taken by the Ministry and similar approvals by CERA, the Ministry with apathy and pretexts does not complete its own obligations for the implementation of the project.
We emphasize that in order to regain the credibility of the production system, to ensure adequacy, security of supply and the necessary dispersion of production in the area, it is imperative to immediately install the two new production units at Dhekelia Power Station, including Storage, as well as to create all the necessary infrastructure for the future upgrade of the two new units to a combined cycle plant to strengthen the more economical operation.
Both on this issue and on the other serious issues that afflict and adversely affect the cost of electricity and the Energy Sector, such as storage, operation and flexibility of the electricity system and RES, we will come back".
