The success of the efforts being made to complete the LNG import terminal at Vasiliko is among the Ministry's immediate priorities at this time, Energy, Commerce and Industry Minister, Giorgos Papanastasiou, said on Thursday in his address to the Annual General and Electoral Meeting of the Electricity Market Association (EMA) held in Nicosia.

Papanastasiou said that the energy sector in Cyprus faces many challenges, the main ones being isolation and very high costs, noting that the Government realised from the start "the need to accelerate the transformation of the energy sector."

"One of our immediate priorities at this particular time is the success of our efforts to complete the LNG import terminal at Vasiliko," Papanastasiou said, stressing that the project is of great importance for Cyprus, since, as he said, the arrival of natural gas will lead to increased competition in the electricity market and the reduction of pollutants from its use in electricity production. 

He also stated that the utilization of domestic Renewable Energy Sources is also high on the Ministry's agenda, saying that the Ministry's improved Grant Schemes for production from RES for private consumption, through net-metering and net-billing, as well as virtual net-metering and net-billing, are pushing more and more consumers to proceed with the installation of photovoltaic systems on the roofs of their buildings.

He indicated that by the end of 2023, the installed capacity of self-consumption photovoltaic systems reached approximately 47% of the total installed capacity, with the remaining 53% coming from commercial photovoltaic systems.

The Minister also said that apart from the issue of securing European funds, the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry has promoted and supported the requests of the EAC for the recruitment of staff, precisely in order to speed up the projects of the ten-year network development programme.

He also referred to the Ministry's plans for energy saving and said that the plan to provide aid for hybrid installations, i.e. for storage systems combined with renewable energy systems, has been submitted for public consultation and all alternatives for the installation and operation of centralised energy storage systems are being examined.

Finally, Papanastasiou thanked the Board of Directors and the members of the Electricity Market Association and asked that "your Association stands by the Ministry of Energy's efforts to operate a competitive electricity market and the transition to a green economy".