An emergency meeting of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) was underway on Monday morning to examine the situation expected to arise from electricity authority unions’ deciding to partially suspend operation of the Dhekelia power plant.
Unions of workers at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) announced last Thursday they would halt the operation of six electric steam units in Dhekelia, risking power outages in the event of an increase in electricity demand.
In a letter justifying their actions to the General Manager, the unions said the power units in question are operating without a permit, therefore illegally, and contribute to high electricity costs and profiteering, and staff are no longer willing to engage in such activity.
The unions also said construction, operation and maintenance personnel will only work in properly structured and fully staffed crews, under the required supervision, and no staff member will undertake duties not in line with their job description.
Speaking on behalf of the unions on CyBC radio on Monday morning, Kyriakos Tafounas, general secretary for Epopai-Sek union, said that the unions have been warning the government for years that the Dhekelia power plant is both outdated and simultaneously crucial to the grid.
The government’s proposal to the EU to close Dhekelia and turn the plant into a park is misguided, Tafounas said, adding that energy from renewables will not be able to replace what is generated at Dhekelia, nor will it enable a stable grid.
Elsewhere, the energy ministry recently requested, and was granted, an extension of operations from Brussels to continue running Dhekelia’s outdated units up until 2029, while Energy Minister Natasa Pilides on Friday accused the unionists motives of being ‘political.’
Tafounas, for his part, asked whether it was up to the workers to take over government energy policy, even if misguided, said “workers are also consumers, suffering from the high costs of energy” caused by the government’s wrongheaded policy.
He added his conviction that EAC workers are operating fully within their legal union rights in this matter.
CERA is expected to make an official statement following its emergency meeting later on Monday.
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