Filenews 27 June 2025 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
New information from the EAC front and the evaluation of the offers for the purchase of new generators in Dhekelia confirm the initial concerns that the tender - which was recently re-announced - is developing into a big fiasco.
It is not only the much higher prices that were "offered" to EAC compared to the prices of the previous procedure. It is, even worse, the inability of the two interested contractors (TERNA and AVAX) to deliver the generators before the summer of 2028. And this under the best conditions and provided that the signatures will fall... tomorrow morning, which is impossible!
That is, a process that began about a year ago with the aim of installing the two new generators for production by the summer of 2026, due to the serious problems of electricity shortage predicted for next year and later, ended up not being able to guarantee the delivery of the generators even in the summer of 2028!
In this context, it cannot be excluded that this tender will also be cancelled. Although there is information that EAC has in its hands an alternative proposal, for small internal combustion units, which could perhaps be installed earlier and at a lower cost. However, they are not considered an ideal choice for the station of Dhekelia.
New competition?
Fileleftheros is informed that a broad meeting was held yesterday between officials of the Ministry of Energy and administrative and managerial executives of EAC, chaired by Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou.
The idea of announcing a new tender for the reinforcement of electricity production from the Dhekelia station with 80-100 megawatts has fallen on the table, without specifying the technology of the generators and without setting restrictive technical conditions. In the hope that more companies will respond, with more flexible, cheaper and faster implementable solutions.
A new tender, however, will de facto require a lot of time and will probably not be able to lead to the achievement of the goal neither for the summer of '26, nor for the summer of '27, perhaps not even for '28. But it can lead to better, more flexible and cheaper equipment.
The solution of storage
But what will happen in the meantime? How will the serious risks of electricity shortages for the summer of '26 be addressed? The information of the Liberal Party states that the Ministry of Energy and EAC are now pinning their hopes for an increased supply of energy in the storage systems (batteries) promoted by EAC for the Dhekelia station.
The bid evaluation process is at an advanced stage and the Electricity Authority hopes that it is possible for the batteries to be operational by next summer. In such a case, the Transmission Operator will be strengthened with 160 megawatt hours, with which it will be able to meet the urgent needs for the security of the system and the satisfaction of demand during the peak hours of summer afternoons (6 to 10 p.m.).
In the coming days, efforts will be intensified on the storage front in Dhekelia, in order to close the issue of the award of the tender as soon as possible and to start the implementation procedures of the project, as an alternative to the elusive target for new generators.
At the same time, the Transmission Operator is called upon to quickly run the procedures for the selection and installation in the network of the three storage systems (for a total of 400 megawatt hours), so that they will be available in June 2026 for the stability of the system, perhaps even to close some holes in the power adequacy. In June '26, CERA set a goal, but the chances of meeting this timetable are not many.
