Cyprus solar power production on the rise

The ability to link renewable sources of energy to the grid remains limited due to shortage of electricity storage systems, Minister of Energy Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has said. Speaking at the parliamentary committee of Finance, Lakkotrypis said that the Ministry’s plans to launch new schemes aimed at subsidising the use of renewable energy for home use so that Cyprus could achieve its 2020 targets.

He said applications for solar panels for commercial use reached 400 megawatts, with procedures for 90 MW of the total 120 MW at an advanced level while a new tender will be launched that would increase the capacity to 200 MW.

He noted, however, that this is the maximum capacity that could be linked with the grid so that no problems concerning electricity storage arise, adding that the Ministry is in contact with the Cyprus Transmission System Operator.

The EU 2020 target for Cyprus for renewables is set at 13% and 10% in Transport, with actual share of renewables in energy consumption amounting to 9.3% and 2.63% in Transport in 2016-2017.

Lakkotrypis said the Ministry is considering incentives for electric vehicles, noting however that the target in transport would be mainly reached with the utilisation of biofuel.

Furthermore, the Ministry is exploring a new set of incentives for the scheme promoting energy efficiency, apart from the scheme to promote heat insulation.

The aim is to launch a new scheme for solar water heaters in houses and house solar panels.

This is the Ministry’s response to the fluctuations in petroleum prices, recalling that so far solar panels have been installed to 12,000 houses via previous subsidy schemes.