Cyprus activates emergency power provision amid risk of 2030 supply gap

Nicosia, Cyprus. The government has activated a legal provision allowing emergency measures to help electricity supply meet demand, officials said on Tuesday. Cyprus could face a severe supply gap by 2030.

Worst-case assessment

Polyvios Lemonaris, chairman of the energy regulatory authority Cera, told MPs that the energy ministry had activated article 34 of the Regulating the Electricity Market Law, which provides for a “capacity mechanism” to be initiated.

Lemonaris said Cera’s rolling assessment of power adequacy examined a worst-case scenario in which Cyprus has neither natural gas for electricity generation nor an electrical interconnection with another country by 2030. Under that scenario, the shortage would be about 720 megawatts, chiefly because conventional power turbines that do not meet EU environmental standards must be decommissioned.

Potential measures and costs

The capacity mechanism, if implemented, could involve different technologies and methods depending on the electricity system’s needs, Lemonaris said. Its costs would ultimately be borne by consumers.

He cited Ireland, where authorities introduced a capacity mechanism for a period after facing a serious supply issue, pending the completion of permanent infrastructure.

Lemonaris said earlier power adequacy assessments in Cyprus had assumed natural gas and an interconnector would be available sooner than now appears likely. He stressed that Cera implements state decisions rather than setting energy policy.