While the problem continues to persist, electricity prices keep rising, consumers are under increasing pressure, and the adequacy of the power supply remains constantly at a critical level, the solution is right in front of us. And its name is: energy storage.
There is something paradoxical in Cyprus. Everyone now recognises the problem. Electricity is expensive. The system is under pressure. Adequacy can no longer be taken for granted. Photovoltaics are being curtailed because the grid cannot absorb their production. And while all this is known, the discussion still revolves around old solutions, special exemptions and demands that protect interests more than they reduce the cost for consumers.
A few weeks ago, we saw the EAC go on strike, putting forward cheap electricity and adequacy as the main arguments. These sound good. Who does not want cheaper electricity? Who does not want adequacy? But when one looks at what was actually requested, the picture changes. State support for new units that will use heavy fuel oil at Dhekelia, and a series of bypasses of legislation and rules for the benefit of the EAC. Not competition. Not equal rules. Special treatment for the already dominant player in the market.
At the same time, the solution that can provide an immediate answer to the problem is right in front of our eyes: energy storage. Not in ten years. Not when natural gas arrives. Not when some major project that is pushed further back every year is completed. Now. Storage is the only practical solution that can today support adequacy, reduce prices and improve the utilisation of cheap renewable energy at the same time.
Because what does a battery do? It takes energy when there is surplus photovoltaic production and gives it back when the system needs it. In other words, instead of curtailing cheap solar generation at noon and then burning expensive fuel in the evening, we store cheap electricity and use it during peak hours. This is not theory. This is simple economic logic. The more cheap energy we save from curtailment, and the less expensive conventional generation we need during difficult hours, the more the total cost of the system is reduced.
And the recent figures show exactly the scale of the problem. Residential photovoltaic systems were curtailed up to 17 times within one month. In large photovoltaic parks, curtailments reached 66% of their energy in April. In other words, at the same time that we are discussing expensive units and state support, we are throwing away abundant clean and cheap energy because we have nowhere to put it. This is not energy policy. It is a failure of planning.
What is even more serious is that storage is not absent because there is no interest. There is interest. There are investors. There are projects. There are applications. The Electricity
Market Association recently complained that delays in promoting storage projects are keeping millions of euros in investments idle and are burdening consumers, businesses and the country’s adequacy. Reports also state that the EAC Distribution System Operator has issued connection terms for only 16 applications concerning existing photovoltaic parks with storage, with a total capacity of 29 MW, and has now stopped issuing terms. Therefore, the problem is not that there is no solution. The problem is that some are delaying this solution.
We do not need to reinvent the wheel. Other countries have already moved faster. Even Turkey, which is not always considered an example of sound energy policy, did something simple: it gave priority to the grid connection of renewable energy projects that include storage. In this way, it reduced barriers, sent a clear signal to the market and created strong investment interest in batteries. In other words, it understood something that in Cyprus we are still discussing: if storage is the solution, you do not keep it stuck in bureaucracy. You open the way for it. In Cyprus, why are we doing the opposite?
And this must be said clearly. The Distribution System Operator, which operates within the structure of the EAC, must be neutral and impartial and must provide non-discriminatory access to the grid. But when private investments in storage are waiting, while at the same time the EAC’s central solutions are presented as a national necessity that must move forward immediately, how is market confidence protected? How is it proven that there is no conflict of roles?
Yes, the 120 MW of central storage that was announced to operate by June 2026 is important and necessary. But we do not see it coming yet, since the tender has not been awarded yet. Cyprus does not need one solution controlled by a few. It needs the mass, fast and competitive introduction of storage at all levels: in the system, in photovoltaic parks, in large consumers, in suppliers, in industries and in commercial facilities.
The final question is therefore simple. Do we really want cheaper electricity and adequacy, or do we want to continue financing old logic with new excuses? Because if we want a real solution, it already exists. It is called storage. And as long as we keep it hostage to procedures, delays and conflicts of roles, we will continue cutting cheap energy at noon and paying for expensive energy in the evening. In other words, we will continue doing exactly what brought us here.
* Sotiris Kyprianou, Energy Consultant
