Filenews 14 January 2025 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
Those who hoped that the electricity storage system planned by EAC for the Dhekelia plant could be rapidly promoted, in order to avoid the costly installation of two gas turbines at the same station and to address network inadequacy problems in the summer of 2025, are not justified.
As Fileleftheros was informed by EAC, the planning permission and the infrastructure permit for the installation of the batteries have not been secured so far, but the tenders for the supply of the system have not been announced either.
We were informed by the EAC Press Office that the construction – installation of the storage system will require 12 to 18 months from the date of award of the tender and signing of a contract with the contractor. Taking into account that the tender has not been launched even after its announcement will take a few months for the evaluation of the proposals and the award, it follows that it is extremely difficult to deliver the project for use to EAC before the summer of 2026.
As Fileleftheros wrote on Saturday, electricity adequacy problems will also occur in the summer of 2025 and are likely to be more serious -in cases of failures- than those caused in the summer of 2024, with the high demand for electricity during the prolonged heat wave. F" wrote specifically that EAC is not ready -for financial reasons- to award a tender for the purchase and installation of two units of 40 megawatts each, for the Dhekelia station, in order to enhance the available power but also to address stability problems in the system, due to its excessive dependence on production at Vasilikos station.
The situation will be much more serious in terms of electricity adequacy when the procedures for adapting EAC (and PEC) units to the use of natural gas begin, a period during which each unit will not be able to operate for electricity production for a few months. Since gas will not be available in 2025, this problem is postponed until 2026.
They will come out on offers
Regarding the batteries in Dhekelia (for 160 MWh), EAC spokesperson Christina Papadopoulou informed us yesterday the following:
"For the storage system in Dhekelia we are waiting for the issuance of the Town Planning Permit and the connection terms by the Cyprus TSO. After the planning permission we will have to apply for a building permit.
We intend to start the bidding process immediately, ideally in January, with the aim of being ready for award once the licensing is completed. The construction of the storage system will take 12 to 18 months, depending on the availability of the equipment."
According to EAC, every effort will be made to have the storage in Dhekelia (at a cost of around €62 million) ready for summer 2026. But that seems very difficult at the moment.
How will they be used?
Energy officials hope that the operation of the storage system will mitigate the problems arising from the increased penetration of RES and especially the cuts in green production (even at this time, in the heart of winter!).
As "F" rewrote, the proposed project concerns the installation and operation of an energy storage battery system (BESS), with a capacity of 160 MWh. The BESS system will be connected to the network of the national electricity system and will provide a series of services deemed necessary for the smooth operation of the electricity system. The services provided will include load shifting, with the aim of reducing renewable energy curtailment. Through storage, frequency control is achieved to stabilize system frequency fluctuations caused by increased RES penetration.
In addition, support for the ramp rate is envisaged to help conventional plants meet demand at times when renewable energy production is rapidly increasing or decreasing. The installation of a storage unit will avoid the use of conventional production units during peak periods. Finally, the services provided include the provision of ancillary services to increase system reliability and fault response capability (inertia, frequency retention reserve (FCR), frequency recovery reserve (FRR), rapid frequency response (FFR)).
Great interest in installing batteries is also expressed by the private sector and CERA has already issued many licenses. However, the pending implementation of the storage facility subsidy scheme is delaying the promotion of licensed projects and it is not known when the utilization of batteries from existing private commercial photovoltaic parks will begin.
