Filenews 9 August 2025 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
The turmoil that prevails in many sectors of the economy these days is not what characterizes the EAC services that are working to find an economic and operational way to increase the Authority's production capacity in the coming months and in particular for the selection of a proposal for the installation of generators in Dhekelia, in the context of the tender that is in progress.
Until recently, unofficial information did not justify optimism for a successful outcome of the tender. However, yesterday, the chairman of the board of directors of EAC, Georgios Petrou, let the Morning Itinerary reveal the possibility of awarding a bid in the near future, without giving more information.
The information available states that by taking advantage of some margin of manoeuvre allowed by this tender, EAC is trying in cooperation with the two bidders (TERNA and AVAX) to secure small generators at the lowest possible price but with delivery no later than 2027.
In order to "get the job done" at the lowest cost, EAC is reportedly discussing the purchase of gas turbines of different -older- technology, compared to the direct response gas turbines that it was initially discussing and were priced by contractors at close to 200 million euros. For a capacity of 80 megawatts.
These gas turbines are essentially cheaper but take slightly longer to activate and provide electricity, compared to gas turbines used in airplanes and are particularly useful in power plants, precisely because they respond directly to the needs of the system.
The information available states that the people of EAC in the field of offers and purchases will make their final effort in the coming days to choose a suitable offer, so that the issue is not left hanging for much longer.
Any decision on the tender will not offer assistance to meet electricity needs in 2026, as no contractor can deliver a generator until then.
Hopes in storage
For the needs of 2026 (especially during the hours when the RES systems are not operating), EAC and the Transmission Operator are pinning all their hopes on the batteries they will install in three substations of the Electricity Authority, under the management of the TSO, from which stored electricity can be used for some difficult days and hours of the electricity system, when for a few minutes (late afternoon) demand may exceed production or when stability problems occur in the system.
The president of EAC said yesterday to CyBC's Third Session that it is a matter of a few days for the Operator to issue the tender for the purchase and installation of the storage systems in the EAC substations.
The goal of the EAC, the TSO, and the Ministry of Energy is to have this storage available in the summer of 2026. Although the margins are very narrow, there is optimism that if unforeseen events are avoided with the offers, the officials will be able to have the three storage systems ready before June 2026.
For the storage systems promoted by EAC for the stations in Dhekelia and Moni, optimism is lower, as there are not many chances that they will be available for the needs of the summer of 2026.
