THE ELECTRICITY Authority of Cyprus (EAC) plans to break its dependence on oil for power generation, it said yesterday.
Speaking at the launch of the annual report yesterday EAC chairman Harris Thrassou, said that the Authority had given special weight to the arrival of natural gas power generation on the island.
The cost of oil for use as fuel in power generation constitutes the greatest single cost faced by the EAC, accounting for 65 per cent of the overall costs of the organisation in 2008.
“The overall expenses for the EAC for 2008 added up to €724 million,” said Thrassou.
Fuel costs alone were €472 million. Higher oil prices in 2008 bear the blame for these very high costs which are 56 per cent greater than the €302 million oil cost the EAC in 2007.
The EAC said it would soon be in a position to choose a strategic partner for the development of the requirements of electricity production using natural gas as a fuel, including the required storage facilities. It is the EAC’s intention to have the natural gas system in place “over the course of 2014”, Thrassou said.
The high prices for oil in part accounted for the very low profits generated by the EAC in 2008,which at only €20.3 million, was a 50 per cent drop on the previous year.
Thrassou said that with such low profits it was not possible to realise the developmental programme planned by the EAC for 2009-2018, and estimated at €3 billion.
He stressed that this figure covered only the systems of production, transportation and distribution and did not include the costs associated with the arrival of natural gas power generation on the island.
The EAC underlined that it had kept prices steady since 1983 until recently when the Energy Regulatory Authority voted small price increases of 1.5 per cent per year for the coming three years.
Thrassou noted that it was very likely that in a few years’ time the EAC would be very different to the one currently recognised by the Cypriot consumer. The primary change to occur is a diversification into new sectors of activity, particularly in generating energy from renewable resources.
