The Electricity Authority of Cyprus has responded to claims made by the company PEC that the authority is delaying the integration of significant new production capacity into the electricity system and is objectively acting to preserve its own dominant market position and the country's high electricity costs. In a statement, the EAC described these claims and characterisations as inaccurate and defamatory.
Pumping station built on leased plot, EAC says
The private company P.E.C. PowerEnergy Cyprus Ltd has built a seawater pumping station on the beach at the southwestern boundary of the Vasilikos power station, on plot number 558, which the EAC said is leased exclusively to the authority under a long-term lease for the purposes of the Vasilikos plant. The EAC described this construction as an illegal encroachment on the plot. As a result, the authority said, it continues to fully and uninterruptedly exercise its rights of use and exploitation over the property under the terms of the existing lease agreement, which the EAC said does not allow for any third-party interference.
The EAC said it is international best practice to leave a buffer strip around power stations for safety purposes and to minimise environmental impact, meaning the leased plot plays a critical role in the safe operation of the Vasilikos plant.
No environmental or planning permits, authority says
The EAC also said the required environmental and planning permits have not been secured for the construction of the pumping station, nor for the installation of the seawater intake pipeline or the discharge pipeline for hot cooling water.
As a public benefit organisation, the EAC said it has an obligation to express its serious concerns and is calling for the necessary studies to be carried out by the company to determine whether the works in question could affect the efficiency of the Vasilikos plant, and by extension the interests of consumers as a whole. The authority's main concern, it said, is to ensure that the plant's operation is not affected in a way that reduces its efficiency. The EAC said it also expects the competent authorities to intervene to restore legality, so that the company complies with legislative and licensing requirements.
The EAC said it follows all procedures and regulations provided for under legislation, and secures all necessary permits when carrying out a development project, adding that everyone is obliged to do the same.
Concerns over cooling water temperature
The EAC said it has serious concerns about the risk to the operating performance of all generating units at the Vasilikos plant, due to a possible rise in the temperature of the seawater the authority draws for cooling purposes. It said this is because the pipeline PEC has laid in the sea, used to discharge used cooling and desalination water back into the sea, is located close to the point where the EAC draws its own cooling water. The authority uses seawater to cool the plant's machinery, and said any rise in the temperature of the water it draws could cause damage and result in very significant financial losses for the EAC, and consequently for Cypriot consumers.
EAC says it supports competition
The EAC said it fully supports competition in the market and has never obstructed, nor has any intention of obstructing, healthy competition. For the authority, it said, competition represents an important opportunity for development and adaptation, and an additional incentive for better infrastructure, quality of service and, above all, new services for consumers. What the EAC said it will not tolerate, reserving all its legal rights, is having the organisation discredited through baseless statements and characterisations.
