It’s a disgrace to those in charge, and to the country

Opinion CERAcyprusEACelectricity It’s a disgrace to those in charge, and to the country Ploio Akoma Relevant News It’s a disgrace to those in charge, and to the country 23 July 2026 Tourists raft on foggy Naerin Stream in South Korea 23 July 2026 New blaze near Skarinou: “Particularly dangerous day,” fire chief warns 23 July 2026 Chrysanthos Manoli 23 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber CERA finally took the first step, late as usual, towards activating the capacity mechanism laid out under article 34 of the electricity law, at the end of May. But it only moved to head off the serious power shortages expected from early 2030, once the Dhekelia units are decommissioned by the end of 2029, as Cyprus committed to the EU it would do. The Energy Ministry responded, asking the regulator for all the data needed to justify activating the mechanism and putting out tenders for new generators and extra capacity. The ministry, too, only got “moved” by 2030. For two or three years now, technocrats, EAC union officials, political parties and the media have been warning that this shortage isn’t some problem waiting for us in 2030. It’s already here, and it’s already baring its teeth at households, businesses and the economy. There hasn’t been proper electricity supply, not by law’s own definition, for a long time now, and this has been flagged repeatedly, as a warning. Last year we couldn’t avoid some limited power cuts for a section of consumers, because a handful of faults exposed just how thin our reserves are and forced the Transmission System Operator into rolling disconnections early in the evening. A year passed with no meaningful intervention from the state, and here we are again in the same spot, with the first cuts of this summer already landing yesterday. There was outrage last year too, and we, the public, actually believed someone would be moved to act and stop it happening again. We were told central storage, or storage at Dhekelia, was coming soon. Yet again, the timelines slipped. It was only two months ago that a contractor was finally signed up to install central storage on the grid, and it’s still an open question whether even that system will be ready by June 2027. Given how much worse the weather’s getting and how much electricity demand keeps rising, it’s doubtful central storage, given its technical limits, will let the Transmission System Operator meet ever-growing demand during the hours the solar panels aren’t producing, especially if faults hit like yesterday’s. Last year we were promised central storage for the summer of 2026. They got that badly wrong. This year we’re promised guaranteed storage for next summer instead. They’d do better to go back and redo their sums, and work out how to get more available production online from new units, even on a temporary basis, whether or not central storage ends up working. Either way, they need enough capacity in reserve to ride out any breakdowns at the EAC’s major units. And they need to be worrying about 2028 and 2029 too, when demand will be higher again than this year’s and next year’s. We don’t know exactly what the Operator’s own studies show, but you don’t need to have read them to see we’ve deliberately gone all-in on electrification, and the ministry, CERA and the Operator, above everyone else, need to be preparing for it. They’re right to be studying activation of article 34 for 2030. But they should have done it long ago, and they need to do it now, for the next three summers, not just for 2030. They’ve already missed the boat for this summer. This situation is a disgrace to those responsible, and a disgrace to the country as a whole. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Tourists raft on foggy Naerin Stream in South Korea New blaze near Skarinou: “Particularly dangerous day,” fire chief warns What a trial we’re living through: electric shock, non-stop Digital TV switch: viewers urged to retune before October 10 deadline Two arrested over livestreamed footage in case involving child with disability Family of Limassol wildfire victims still seeking answers, one year on Trozena investment awaits make-or-break environment ruling Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.