Filenews 6 August 2025 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
Yesterday's announcement by the EAC trade unions is probably the first time that the representatives of the employees of the Electricity Authority have criticized - very harshly in fact - executives of their organization (technocrats - their colleagues), even without naming them.
The Ministry of Energy is also criticized and concerns - in both its versions - the serious delay observed in addressing the adequacy problem that the Cypriot electricity system faces from 2024 and which problem is expected to worsen in the coming years, given the inability to import natural gas within the next three years (at least), the consequent inability to fully utilize the 420 megawatts that could be produced by the EAC and PEC units in Vassilikos, whether natural gas was available, but also the great uncertainty regarding the operation of the electricity interconnection with Crete in 2030 or later.
The criticism of the trade unions of the Electricity Authority extends to the long delay observed by EAC in the upgrade of the Dhekelia station (due to the difficulty in the success of the tender that the service maintains alive with... artificial respiration) and increasing electricity production from that point, for the safety and balancing of the system.
"It is right and proper for everyone to pay"
According to the trade unions, "the Ministry of Energy bears a huge responsibility for the failure of the project at the Dhekelia station (s.f. purchase of two new generators for 80 megawatts), as it 'failed?' to support in the European space what is proper and right for the country. There, the positions (of those who had no substantial say on the matter) of those who make, as the State admitted, superprofits prevailed and demand that their customers be exempted from the cost of upgrading the station and that it should be borne only by the consumers of the Electricity Authority".
What the trade unionists mean is the European Commission's non-acceptance of Cyprus' official request for the new generators in Dhekelia to be financed by all electricity consumers, whether they are customers of EAC Proprotheia, or customers of private suppliers, so that EAC does not suffer all the financial damage, since the reinforcement of Dhekelia aims to cover the electricity adequacy throughout the system but also to ensure safety and stability.
The Commission's refusal to accept the reinforcement of electricity production from Dhekelia as an increase in the reserve for the smooth operation of the system and not as a speculative investment of the EAC, causes many reactions among technocrats of the Electricity Authority, who warn that if the EAC continues to operate in a competitive market, which does not ensure equal conditions of competition for the private and public sectors, proceed with investments of millions, get involved in economic adventures and hurt its competitiveness, also increasing the cost of electricity for its customers, who will be basically households.
Infrastructure is necessary for the country
It is precisely on this argument of some EAC technocrats that the organization's guilds criticize in their announcement yesterday, stating the following:
"As far as the Electricity Authority is concerned, those who force it from their office to think and reflect (ed. for the reasons mentioned above) for the creation of necessary infrastructure projects bear a huge responsibility, projects that may not have the return that the business world wants an investment of its own.
"The Electricity Authority," the statement continues, "should be freed from the short circuit created by the occasional announcements for:
(a) the advent of Natural Gas (in how many terms?),
(b) electricity interconnection (a project that both the European Investment Bank and the Minister of Finance consider unsustainable).
"A short circuit that has seriously affected infrastructure projects, both in Production and Transport. The service of the expected arrival of the electric cable forced EAC to make huge inactive investments. In essence, they lead it to the logic of the "only point of electricity production" in the area of Vassilikos, i.e. to lay her eggs in a basket. A practice that the State condemned (Parliament, Auditor General, CERA, TSO), pointing out that this vital good should not be produced from a single point. It seems that the disaster in Mari has taught us nothing."
A must for Dhekelia – The Villager's Rope
As far as the Dhekelia power plant is concerned, the trade unions say, "it has been judged by all the Competent Bodies that its existence is necessary for its adequacy, security of supply and dispersion of production. Therefore, upgrading it is a task that must be done. It is simply that the delay in its upgrade will create needs for adequacy and will force it (e.g. EAC) to rent temporary units at a huge cost for the consumer, a cost that will not concern permanent infrastructure. Infrastructures that must be built (ed. later), for which the consumer will be asked to pay again and thus the popular saying "The rope that is not enough alone, double is enough and is excessive" will be verified.
- With their above report, the guilds highlight as a warning the serious possibility that Cyprus will be led to the need for the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) to announce tenders for the supply of mobile and rented small generators to cover the electricity needs in the next 3 or 4 summers, until EAC can install new permanent generators in Dhekelia, since by the end of 2029 there is a commitment to the Commission and the local government to disconnect the six aging and polluting steam turbines from the plant in question.
That is, if the tender for the generators with a total capacity of 80 megawatts, which has been brewing for months under the responsibility of EAC, collapses permanently, without ensuring additional production, CERA will be forced (it has probably already failed to do so) to initiate the procedures for the urgent rental of generators for 2026 – 27 and -28, at a cost of hundreds of millions.
And within this three or four years, they will have to restart tender procedures for the purchase of new permanent units in Dhekelia by EAC (in order to have a second conventional electricity production site, for safety and balancing), also at a cost of hundreds of millions.
What about the contest?
During the last meeting held about 15 days ago at the Ministry of Energy, under Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou, EAC reportedly informed that it had in its hands an alternative proposal from a Greek contractor, for the supply of small and flexible units, at a relatively bearable cost, and delivery in two years. This choice, about which there is not much information, was the reason why it was decided to give some more time to the tender that is underway with the participation of Terna and Avax.
2-3 weeks ago, the trend inside and outside the EAC favoured the cancellation of the tender, but, if this happens, the delay in the upgrade of Dhekelia and the increase in the available conventional electricity will be extended for a few years, putting the safety and adequacy of electricity under complete question. This risk was the reason that led the guilds to request a meeting on 22/7 with the board of directors of EAC and to issue yesterday their strict statement, both against the Ministry of Energy, and against EAC and its managers.
