The government shows sloppiness and irresponsibility in promoting Renewable Energy Sources

Statement by AKEL MP Kostas Kosta after the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy

9 November 2021

One of the main reasons for the very high price of electricity in Cyprus is the government’s inability to effectively promote renewable energy sources (RES) in the electricity balance.

The absence of a comprehensive plan for RES on the part of the government and the belated licensing of projects at the last minute to meet EU targets, many of which will not be able to be implemented in the end, shows incredible sloppiness and irresponsibility.

Discussing today in the Energy Committee the attractiveness of investments related to RES in Cyprus, we as a Party wondered why, but also how one can invest in the RES sector:

– When the government doesn’t have a comprehensive plan to promote RES,

– When we are still waiting for the government’s spatial planning, so that RES projects are not placed on fertile agricultural land or environmentally sensitive areas,

– When the grid is still outdated and in many areas cannot take additional load from RES, while we have been waiting for years for its replacement or upgrading,

– When in the storage sector, the government is moving too slowly,

– When incredible bureaucratic and time-consuming procedures are demanded to obtain permits from the relevant government departments, with projects currently around 750 megawatts waiting for planning or building permits or approval from the Department of the Environment,

– When banks to lend money for such projects, frankly cause unimaginable inconvenience to investors, which was confirmed today by the associations of private renewable energy investment,

– When we are still waiting for the government to proceed with large tenders for RES projects, in order to make substantial and large investments, noting that countries abroad have achieved such tenders, avoidance costs of about 2 cents per kilowatt hour, while today in Cyprus the avoidance costs exceed 16 cents.

If the government really wants to proceed with the substantial penetration of RES in the electricity balance, it must finally take the political decision to do so, as for example for the implementation of the Virtual Net Metering (VNM) strategy and for farmers, which we have been examining for two months in the Energy Committee. Otherwise, in this area too, we will hear nothing but government statements serving communication needs and purposes.