Filenews 27 March 2025
Following yesterday's decision of the Council of Ministers for the licensing of the installation of small private desalination units, the Water Development Department (TAY) is now accepting applications for their licensing through a simplified procedure.
The aim of the measure is to facilitate the installation of small private desalination plants for the production of drinking water for hotel units and non-potable water for the service of farms, golf courses, water parks or other related facilities, for the production of up to 1,500 cubic meters per day.
Furthermore, the TAY announces the announcement of the sponsorship plan entitled "Sponsorship plan for the installation of small private desalination units in hotel units", on the basis of a separate decision yesterday by the Council of Ministers. The purpose of the Plan is to provide de minimis sponsorship to hotel units for the installation of small private desalination units, with a capacity of up to 1,500 cubic meters of water per day, in order to meet their drinking water needs.
For the sponsorship scheme, it can be either an individual installation or a group installation by several hotels, i.e. a common unit that serves all participants.
The sponsorship depends on the daily capacity of the unit and ranges from €65,000 to 100 cubic meters per day for a single installation and up to€300,000 from 1,001 to 1,500 cubic meters. For a group installation, the sponsorship ranges from €95,000 to 100 cubic meters and reaches €550,000 from 1001-1,500 cubic meters.
It is noted that in cases where a desalination unit is installed for water supply purposes (only for hotel units), a program for monitoring the quality of the water produced will be prepared and observed.
For units located in bathing water areas, water pumping is recommended as it is done through appropriate boreholes. In case there are already marine structures such as jetties, marinas, etc., then water pumping can be done through pipelines that will be placed on or along them. In case the above 2 options are not possible, pipelines may be placed in the sea that are sufficiently buried up to the point of outlet. For units located outside the bathing water areas, the above recommendation does not exist.
Licensing of the installation of small private desalination units https://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/wdd/wdd.nsf/All/71BE93FD36D0E6A7C2258382003FD7A9?OpenDocument
De minimis sponsorship scheme for hotel units https://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/wdd/wdd.nsf/All/C79AD16F2F9A4B5AC2258C5900401AC7?OpenDocument
| Type of Desalination Plant Installation and Amount of Sponsorship Requested (Mark with √ or X for applicable) | ||||
| Daily Capacity of Desalination Plant | Individual Installation | ☐ | Group Installation | ☐ |
| Up to 100 cubic meters | €65.000 | ☐ | €95.000 | ☐ |
| 101 – 200 cubic meters | €90.000 | ☐ | €150.000 | ☐ |
| 201 – 300 cubic meters | €130.000 | ☐ | €200.000 | ☐ |
| 301 – 500 cubic meters | €160.000 | ☐ | €250.000 | ☐ |
| 501 – 1,000 cubic meters | €230.000 | ☐ | €350.000 | ☐ |
| 1,001 – 1,500 cubic meters | €300.000 | ☐ | €550.000 | ☐ |
