Cyprus Mail 26 February 2025 - by Iole Damaskinos
A scandal erupted on Wednesday over a power plant allowed to operate illegally with the tacit approval of authorities, following the release of an Audit Service report on the matter.
The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) had filed a complaint, prompting a retrospective review of permitting procedures involving a private company. The audit report has since been forwarded to determine whether disciplinary or criminal investigations are warranted.
The case revolves around a private electricity generation plant off the coast of Mari, Larnaca, which was built despite authorities failing to prevent its construction and bypassing legal procedures. Ministers and civil servants have been implicated, according to daily newspaper Politis.
The audit report stated that, “the competent state services showed inexcusable tolerance and/or failed to prevent a private interest company from conducting extensive works to erect a private electricity generation plant within the land and marine area of Mari, without first securing all necessary licences.”
The private company had constructed a coastal building and a pumping station on a plot leased to the EAC without obtaining written consent from the authority or applying for a lease amendment with the Larnaca local planning department, as required by law.
Additionally, the company built a pumping station, as well as water intake and discharge pipelines for cooling, without securing planning or building permits.
Moreover, the constructions violate planning permit specifications issued in 2014, which applied to the boundaries of a separate plot.
The cooling pipes pass through state-owned and Turkish Cypriot land, designated for use by the naval base at the site, without prior consultation with the Larnaca district planning department or the Turkish Cypriot property management service.
A quay was also constructed without approval from the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA), while the project is located in a navigation prohibition zone. Furthermore, work was carried out in a military marine zone without a permit from the ministry of defence.
Instead, the company was granted “facilitations” to construct the pipelines on the naval base, with compensation in the form of a football field, a swimming pool, and an officers’ mess hall valued at over €1.5 million being requested.
Environmental compliance is also in question, including whether adequate protective measures were taken to safeguard the surrounding marine environment, which features protected Posidonia seagrass fields.
An unlicenced underwater pipeline and been built, again without securing permits from the CPA or the ministry of defence.
Additionally, the plant’s power output was increased from 230MW to 269MW without submitting a written request to the planning department.
Leasing of the plot before obtaining all necessary permits created a “fait accompli,” the audit report stated, leaving demolition or ex post facto licensing as the only realistic options.
“We believe this creates conditions of ‘pressure,’ risking that any ex post facto permit applications will not be objectively evaluated,” the report warned.
The situation sets a troubling precedent, potentially encouraging future violations, as authorities failed in their duty to halt construction until proper licensing was secured, the Audit Service concluded.
It also transpired that they had failed to respond to the express instruction of the interior minister to “restore legality” at the site.
