The Republic of Cyprus is entitled to request from the implementing body (Independent Electricity Transmission Operator – ADMIE) an update of the cost-benefit analysis regarding the Cyprus-Greece electrical interconnection as well as the updated business model, the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry emphasized at KYPE George Papanastasiou.
Speaking to KYPE from Tokyo, where he is, the Minister of Energy said that the sooner these studies are submitted by ADMIE, the sooner the Cypriot Government will make the final investment decision for its entry into the project’s equity structure with €100 millions.
He also emphasized that the Government does not wish to do the project for the sake of the project, but has as its primary concern the Cypriot consumer.
It is recalled that the Council of Ministers has taken the decision in principle to participate in the project with €100 million, but requested an update of the cost-benefit analysis, before taking the final investment decision.
“The Cypriot Government is justified in requesting an updated cost-benefit study, as well as an updated business plan,” Mr. Papanastasiou told KYPE, stressing that the study was done in 2017 by the previous implementing body (EuroAsia) and things have since change, while the business plan was drawn up in 2017 with a slight update in 2023, as he said.
These two studies, he added, which are very important and which the implementing body is obliged to do, should be done so that the Republic of Cyprus can make the final investment decision.
As he said, the Government’s decision is clear: in principle a decision as the Republic of Cyprus participates in the equity scheme with €100 million, but the final investment decision will be taken if there is a positive evaluation of the two simple studies. “The Government is not going to make any decisions before the studies are completed,” he stressed.
“Our decision must be documented and the documentation will come after the updated cost-benefit study by a recognized firm and the business plan that the implementer must submit immediately. The sooner these two documents are submitted, the sooner the final investment decision of the Republic of Cyprus for participation in the share capital will be taken,” he continued.
The Minister of Energy emphasized, moreover, that he does not want the project to be done “for the sake of the project”.
As he said, three issues are of primary importance. “What does electrical interconnection mean for the consumer and how much will it reduce the cost of electricity, how much will RES penetrate into the electrical mix to be able to channel the excess electricity and end energy isolation and security of electrical supply.”
“But the first thing is the consumer”, he emphasized.
The transfer of the project to ADMIE from a week
According to information, the European Commission, which is subsidizing the project with €657 million, understands the positions of the Cypriot Government. At the same time, the Commission wants the two regulators, CERA and the Greek Waste Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (RAAEF), to immediately approve the transfer of the project to ADMIE, which is expected to be completed next week, since ADMIE submitted them a few days ago days the required documents.
The Commission also requests that the two regulators decide when to start recovering the costs of the implementing body, by imposing a fee on the electricity consumers of the two countries, which is distributed by 67% to the Cypriots and by 33% to the Greek consumers.
