AROUND £800 million will be spent by the Electricity Authority (EAC) in the next 10 years for the transfer and distribution of power as well as the completion of the new power station at Vasiliko near Limassol, EAC Chairman George Georgiades said yesterday.
Speaking at a news conference, Georgiades said the authority’s budget for 2002 was £247 million, while, between 2002 and 2011, the EAC would spend £792.5 million on projects for the production, transfer and distribution of electricity.
Of that total, £356 million have been earmarked for the completion of the new power station at Vasiliko.
According to Georgiades, the EAC’s profit after tax for 2001 was £28.3 million, compared to £29.9 million in 2000.
The income from the sale of electricity in 2001 reached £180.3 million — £58.7 million for domestic use, £81.6 million for commercial, £33 million for industrial, £4.8 million for agricultural, and £2.7 million for public lighting.
Georgiades said the authority’s strategic goals were the reliable supply of power at the lowest possible price, the efficient operation of the organisation, and taking advantage of market liberalisation to the full.
The EAC’s current maximum output is 988MW, stemming from its three power stations in Dhekelia, Moni, and Vasiliko.
Georgiades revealed that yesterday’s supply of electricity had reached a new record high with 743MW. The previous high was recorded earlier this month with 726MW.
Cyprus currently holds the fifth place out of 14 European countries for the lowest cost of electricity for domestic use – seven cents per kWh.
That, however, will soon change with price adjustments that will push Cyprus down to seventh place with 7.26 cents per kWh.
On the industrial front, Cyprus is the second most expensive country on average – supplying power at 6.05 cents per kWh. However, once adjustments are made to stop the subsidisation of household consumption by industry, Cyprus would move down to fourth most expensive with 4.95 cents per kWh.
Regarding the organisation’s future plans, Georgiades reiterated the desire to acquire a piece of the telecommunications pie by competing for a mobile service licence as part of a consortium.
Apart from that, the EAC is joining the Hellas Sat telecommunications satellite project with a 25 per cent stake. The satellite is expected to be put into orbit in 2003.
Hellas Sat is a $250 million satellite consortium between Greek and Cypriot companies, which will help in the transmission of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Cypriot firm Avacom Net now owns 43.4 per cent of the venture, Greece’ telecoms firm OTE holds 25 per cent and the Cyprus Development Bank 19.6 per cent.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
