EAC says PEC Vasiliko pumping station lacks required permits
The Electricity Authority said PEC’s planned seawater discharge infrastructure near Vasiliko lacks permits and could affect its cooling water intake.
Vasiliko, Cyprus. The Electricity Authority (EAC) has rejected reports that it is obstructing the operation of a private power station owned by PEC (Power Energy Cyprus) Ltd, saying the facility’s pumping station and discharge pipes lack the required permits.
The EAC said the infrastructure, located near its Vasiliko plant, could also discharge hot water close to the area where it draws seawater to cool its turbines.
Reports on private power station
In a press release issued on Thursday, the EAC responded to media reports claiming that it was hampering the launch of the PEC power station, a Cyfield group company facility.
The reports alleged that the state-run utility was deliberately restricting competition at a time when Cyprus could benefit from additional electricity generation capacity.
The PEC plant, which is not yet operational, has a nominal output of 260 megawatts.
Discharge infrastructure
PEC has said its facility is ready to operate, with one outstanding issue concerning a pumping station designed to discharge processed seawater into the sea.
Under standard practice, the plant would draw seawater to cool its turbines before releasing the processed water at a different location.
The discharge pipes are located on state land leased to the EAC and are close to the EAC’s seawater intake for the Vasiliko plant.
The Cyprus Mail understands that the pipes run through a plot of land crossing the Mari naval base and end at the shoreline within the EAC-leased plot. The EAC’s lease on the plot is understood to expire in about two years.
EAC objections
The EAC said PEC’s pumping station does not have the necessary zoning and environmental permits. It also said PEC did not obtain its permission to locate the pumping station on the EAC-leased land.
The authority said both the pumping station and the discharge pipes are therefore illegal.
It added that allowing the discharge pipes to operate would result in hot water being pumped into an area from which the EAC draws seawater to cool the Vasiliko turbines.
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