RACE FOR DESALINATION - THE UNIT IN GARYLLIS IS DELAYED DUE TO WAR, THE TENDER FOR AYIA NAPA IS CANCELLED - Filenews 25/3 by Angelos Nikolaou
The water crisis remains, despite the recent rainfall and significant water inflows into the dams, as evidenced by the briefing of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, by the Director General of Agriculture, Andreas Grigoriou.
In essence, he presented a road map that includes the construction of a total of 12 desalination plants, while clarifying that the restrictions on irrigation water will remain until further notice.
With the aim of decoupling the water supply from weather conditions, the Water Development Department (WDD) is promoting an extensive program of desalination plants. According to the data presented, the mobile units in Kissonerga (12,000 cubic meters of water/day) and Moni (15,000 cubic meters/day) are in operation.
The unit at the Port of Limassol (10,000 cubic meters/day) is expected to be completed within this month while it is already in trial operation. However, it remains unknown when the unit in Garyllis will operate (10,000 cubic meters/day), with the contractor company of Jewish interests citing delays due to the war in the area.
The mobile desalination plant in Episkopi is under construction (15,000 cubic meters/day), with the implementation schedule estimated next September. The mobile unit in Vassiliko (20,000 cubic meters/day) is still under evaluation, with an implementation schedule in November. At the same time, the desalination plant in Mazotos (40,000 cubic meters/day) is also under evaluation with completion in January 2027. Furthermore, for the floating unit in Germasogeia (20,000 cubic meters/day), tender documents are being prepared with the aim of putting it into full operation in January 2027.
The plan includes a permanent unit in Ayia Thekla (30,000 cubic meters/day) in replacement of a mobile unit in Ayia Napa (15,000 cubic meters/day). Preparatory studies are being carried out for three more permanent desalination plants in East Limassol (60,000 cubic meters/day), a new unit in Dhekelia to replace the existing one (80,000 cubic meters/day) and Polis Chrysochous (10,000 cubic meters/day). For the last four permanent units, depending on the results that will emerge from the studies and the terms of the competent authorities, it is estimated that they will be completed within 2029. With the construction of the units, the water supply needs in periods of drought will be fully covered, since the total capacity of the system is expected to reach 322,000 cubic meters/day by 2029.
At the same time, the WDD is conducting negotiations for the expansion of the five existing permanent units (Paphos, Episkopi, Vasiliko, Larnaca and Dhekelia), where technically and economically feasible. Today the production of the five units amounts to a total of 235,000 cubic meters/day.
Despite the slight improvement as a result of the rainfall of the last few days, the picture in the dams still remains very fragile. The occupancy of the dams was yesterday at 27.7% (80.6 million cubic meters), showing a slight increase from last year's 24.6%. On the contrary, in the South Pipeline dams, the occupancy is lower than last year, at 22.9%, from last year's 24.3%.
"The improvement recorded does not constitute a restoration of the water balance. If stocks are not protected, they may not be sufficient for 2027 and 2028," the WDD said.
The WDD clarifies that any concession of additional water to agriculture will be considered only after the end of April and if the inputs are satisfactory. Until then, the WDD recommends maintaining the existing policy of strict management, since the current improvement, although significant, does not constitute recovery and, above all, does not ensure the country's water security in the coming years.
