Cyprus will begin accepting applications from commercial producers to construct energy storage facilities on the island in January, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said on Friday.
Addressing the Energy symposium in Nicosia, he said the government aims to be able to store a total of 150 megawatts of energy, all of which will be generated by renewable sources.
These comments come off the back of his speech to the House finance committee regarding his ministry’s budget, in which he said Cyprus now has the capacity to produce a total of 950 megawatts of energy from renewable sources, with 1,500 megawatts of installed capacity from conventional production.
However, he said, only 20 per cent of Cyprus’ energy consumption is from renewable sources, given the lack of available storage systems, and added that this figure “could be much higher” if the requisite storage infrastructure existed
His ministry had in July announced that it had received approval from the European Commission to install the systems, and estimated the total cost at €40 million at least.
Greek Energy Minister Theodoros Skylakakis also centred his recorded address to the symposium on the matter of renewable energy, saying, “this period of energy transition, with very big disturbances, comes at the same time as the climate crisis, and is full of challenges.”
“We are forced to go ahead with a rapid entry of renewable energy sources, which is the only way to offer low prices and energy security to our people,” he said.
He added that his country is expanding its renewable energy production, utilising solar panels, hydroelectric power, and wind power, and is also making “significant investments in energy storage”.
He also made reference to the electricity interconnector between Cyprus and Greece, saying that relations between the two countries “will become even closer as the construction of the cable progresses”.
To this end, he expressed his belief that both countries’ investment in renewable energy and the interconnector project will “lead in the coming years to much lower energy prices, and this will favour both Greece and Cyprus”.
