Energy Ministry opts for storage units to avoid cuts in solar panel systems

Frequent cuts in photovoltaic systems and domestic solar installations are necessary to maintain the production-consumption balance because otherwise we may face a blackout on the island, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou has said.

Speaking on 10 March, he added that the Ministry in collaboration with the Cyprus Transmission System Operator (TSOC), is trying to find ways to ensure self-consumption and avoid cuts.

This will be achieved, among other things, by regulating consumption and using it when energy is cheap, avoiding the injection of energy into the central system. At the same time, the installation of ripple control systems, which has already begun, will help to this end.

Papanastasiou was speaking during a conference organised by EDEK on natural gas and renewable energy sources along with EDEK President, Head of CERA, the President of the EAC and the Executive Director of the TSOC.

The Minister, in statements after the conference, said that he had the opportunity to explain the importance of the interconnection of the Republic of Cyprus with the unified electricity grid and why the island’s isolation must end.

"Because cutting off photovoltaic systems nowadays, while there is a serious electricity sufficiency during the day and a serious deficiency under some conditions at night, is the result of a lack of an electrical interconnection, we lack a storage that we could use for this energy that we produce during the day, at evening hours, and for the coldest days of the winter," he explained.

He further explained that at the moment what exists is only an on/off switch, which interrupts production and cannot even be used for self-consumption. Regarding storage, the Minister appealed to the Parliament to vote on a bill that was submitted in January.

He explained that the bill essentially achieves harmonisation with an EU directive that provides facilities to member states so that they can quickly proceed with certain things that, under other circumstances and without this directive, would be very difficult to do.

"An example for this is fast central storage. This bill allows the Cyprus Transmission System Operator to proceed with rapid procedures so that it can have a central system that we lack today and that is precisely the reason why photovoltaics are being cut off," he said.

In response to a question about the Great Sea interconnector Papanastasiou said that it is a very complex project with many challenges, adding that the technical challenges have been passed on to specialists to solve them.

As regards financial and geopolitical challenges he said that these are linked together as finding investors, is certainly related to the geopolitical aspect. He said that this is a serious energy project that connects the Eastern Mediterranean with Europe and therefore, there is a challenge from those countries that are not interconnected.

In his presentation the Energy Minister made a very detailed analysis of the drilling in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone and the recent agreements with Egypt.

For block 5 (Elektra), he said that we may have some results at the end of the month. He said that the structures show 10 to 30 trillion cubic feet and if confirmed "it is a game changer."

He reiterated that Cronos is the first deposit for which a commercialisation agreement was signed, explaining that in order to have natural gas quickly, we must exploit infrastructure rather than create it.

The Minister of Energy said that a plan is being analysed so that the subsidy for upgrading buildings is given directly to the banks as it became clear that there is indeed problems of finding money from consumers themselves. "It takes time and the banks must also be convinced", he said.

Cyprus is currently developing natural resources discovered within the Republic’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), while several international companies are involved in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities. Cyprus and Egypt signed in February 2025 an Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Republic's EEZ, aiming to bolster the exploitation of natural gas deposits. They include a Host Government Agreement for the development of hydrocarbons in Block 6 – including those extracted from Cronos block under license to a consortium of Italy’s Eni and France’s Total – and a Memorandum of Understanding between Cyprus, Egypt, and the license holders (Chevron Cyprus Limited, NewMed Energy LP, and BG Cyprus Limited) for the development of the Aphrodite gas field. More oil giants are active in Cyprus’ EEZ, with ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy drilling currently in Block 5.

In his statements, EDEK President Marinos Sizopoulos said that very positive and constructive discussions took place and answers were given to critical questions. He called for interventions to be made to EU to exempt Cyprus from green taxation.

TSOC responds to criticism about cuts

Stavros Stavrinos, TSOC's Executive Director responded to criticism about the outages in solar panel parks and domestic units explaining that the Operator's concern is to maintain the production-demand balance because otherwise we go into a blackout with disastrous consequences.

"If we had storage at our disposal we would not turn off the systems. But when production for example decreases by 75 megawatt in 45 minutes, you turn off the systems. You have to have conventional energy ready and a planning there," he explained.

He also explained that a central storage system will help absorb shocks so that cuts do not occur, adding that cuts are not a Cypriot phenomenon and even interconnected countries are turning to this choice.

Stavrinos explained that we have a small and isolated system and therefore a vulnerable one with low demand, an inflexible production fleet, very large development of RES without sufficient capacity to absorb its energy production.

Indicatively, he mentioned that in 2024 the total energy demand was below 600 megawatts per day for about half a year. He further said that 1/4 of the country's consumption in 2024 was covered by RES.

He also mentioned that on 18/5/2023 for some hours, 64% of the energy was covered by RES.

Natural gas will stabilise prices, says EAC

The President of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC), George Petrou, explained that the introduction of natural gas will contribute to stabilising prices and reduce pollutants by 20-25%.

He referred to the installation of smart meters, estimated at half a million by 2028, for consumption regulation, rapid fault detection and theft detection.

Petrou said that in the current competitive market environment, EAC is a weak player and storage is necessary, which will also help reduce cuts solar panels.

Regarding the recent protest about air quality from the authority's factory in Dhekelia Petrou said that air quality monitoring is carried out by an independent body, the measurements are given to the relevant authorities and neighboring communities and the goal is to minimise the authority's environmental footprint.

Energy sector at crucial point says CERA

CERA, Cyprus’ electricity regulatory authority President Polyvios Lemonaris, in his presentation said that the energy sector in Cyprus is at a crucial point. He referred to issues that have to do with energy storage, the arrival of natural gas, RES infusion and issues of market transparency.

Lemonaris said that Cyprus is a market that depends on the import of liquid fuels as it does not have energy interconnections.

He also said that in the 1st half of 2024, Cyprus was 7th in the EU in the countries with the highest electricity prices. He also explained that Cyprus issued many more permits for the construction of solar panel parks than the EU's own target.

(Source: CNA)