The highest electricity demand for 2025 was recorded by the transmission system on Thursday, according to the Spokesperson of the Cyprus Transmission System Operator (TSO), Chara Kousiappa. As he told CNA, the total maximum demand amounted to 1,068 MW at 15:45 and 1,069 MW at 16:00, values that are considered significantly higher than in previous days.
The increased consumption is attributed to the continuous hot and humid weather conditions of the week. Despite the increased pressure on the system, the spokeswoman assured that there was adequacy and the system responded without problems.
For today, Friday, demand is forecast to move at the same or slightly higher levels, however, based on the current planning, no shortages are expected, except for the unexpected.
Regarding the contribution of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), Ms. Kousiappa noted that during the afternoon hours – when the maximum demand is recorded – the penetration of RES exceeds 68%.
Compared to last year, high demand was recorded earlier in June 2024 due to heatwave, while this year June was characterized by milder weather so far.
Responding to questions about whether the system will cope with extreme temperatures, Ms. Kousiappa said that studies show that there may be days with marginal adequacy. In the event of emergency failures, in addition to scheduled maintenance, inadequate incidents may occur, but power outages will not last more than 20 minutes and will be applied in rotation.
Finally, he referred to an extraordinary failure that occurred in the generation system on Tuesday, June 24, which, however, did not affect the supply of electricity to consumers, due to the activation of available reserves. Due to the adequacy of the system, no recommendations to consumers have been issued at the moment.
