EMPLOYEES at the Electricity Authority (EAC) yesterday delivered an ominous warning, urging people to brace for possible power cuts.
“Consumers are warned: it’s matter of days before we take dynamic measures,” said chief EAC unionist Andreas Panorkos.
He said workers were determined to escalate their actions unless the government revised plans on how to bring Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to the island.
Under a Cabinet decision this June, the government decided to move forward with plans to build a land-based terminal for the processing of LNG while also exploring the possibility of an offshore facility as an interim solution.
The floating terminal would be owned by a private business, and the EAC is worried about losing its hold in a market in which it has traditionally been a monopoly.
Conversely, the EAC would maintain majority ownership as well as operation of a land-based plant.
Unions also say the floating unit involves an untested and therefore unreliable technology.
Cyprus needs to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by 23 per cent by the year 2012 or face sanctions from the European Union. Transition to LNG, which is cheaper and cleaner than diesel, will also help save taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds in the long run.
But workers at the state-run electricity utility doubt whether the government knows what it is doing.
“Be it a land plant or floating terminal, the most important thing is to secure a long-term contract for the supply of fuel. But the government failed to take advantage of this opportunity when Egypt offered to sells us LNG,” said Panorkos.
“They are only paying lip service to the land facility; in reality, they are promoting the floating unit,” he added.
“In the long run, any actions we take now are in the interest of the public,” said Panorkos, in an apparent bid to appease consumers who would be inconvenienced by a power strike.
Back in June, EAC workers had staged a three-hour stoppage in the middle of a heat wave, again over the LNG controversy.
But their latest hint at strike action has been denounced by the Employers & Industrialists Federation (OEV) as arm-twisting.
“The issue of LNG and the manner in which it will come to Cyprus has no relation whatsoever to a labour dispute, and should not be used in labour mobilisations,” read a statement released by OEV.
“It is inconceivable that the public should be subjected to this raw blackmail,” it added.
In early 2003, the previous government took the decision to build a land terminal for LNG, a decision endorsed by the Papadopoulos administration a year later.
However, by 2007 nothing had been done towards the implementation of this decision and the government started discussing the possibility of setting up a floating terminal, which supposedly could be built in half the time and thus spare the government the massive fines the EU would impose for the failure to use natural gas at power stations.
The latest twist in the LNG saga came this week, after the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) said there would be a 19-month period, from November 2010 until June 2012, between the completion of the offshore LNG unit and operation of the land-based one.
Trade Minister Antonis Michaelides yesterday sought to play down fears that no investor would pour money into such a massive project with a lifespan of a mere 19 months.
“The state will not buy the floating unit; we will purchase the natural gas and then seek out the best price. We’re optimistic that companies will come forth. If not, then so be it,” said Michaelides
And he suggested that a floating unit was a win-win situation. Even if the offshore unit lasted just 19 months, this translated into savings of £230 million compared to the cost of conventional diesel fuel, Michaelides added.
But EAC chairman Charilaos Stavrakis said that no businessman in their right mind would invest in a venture that was certain not to make a profit.
“They’d have to be crazy,” he remarked.
