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- Русский
It is with great pleasure that I welcome the Annual General Assembly of the Electricity Market Association and I thank the President and the Members of the Board of Directors for the kind invitation.
The energy system of Cyprus is currently undergoing a complete restructuring and reshaping process, with efforts to operate a competitive electricity market, remove the country's isolation through electrical interconnections and upgrade, expand and digitize the electricity grid being the focus. At the same time, we are working both to create the necessary infrastructure for the entry of natural gas and the further penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in our energy mix, as well as to promote energy storage and hydrogen production systems.
As you are well aware, since you will be the main players in tomorrow's competitive electricity market, the effort to operate a competitive market goes back many years and there are many challenges and obstacles that need to be overcome. I am sure that both the Chairman of RAEK, which has the responsibility for the opening of the market, and the representative of the Executive Director of the Cyprus Transmission System Operator, as the Market Operator, will refer extensively, subsequently, to this issue. Therefore, I will limit myself to briefly mention the main actions that the Ministry of Energy has promoted so far.
- We have timely harmonized the national legislation with the European Directive (2019/944) on common rules for the electricity market.
- We secured an allocation of €4.7 million from the Cyprus Tomorrow Programme for the installation of the Electricity Market Management System, so that the consumer does not have to bear the related costs.
- We mediated the provision of technical assistance by the European Commission to the Electricity Market Operator for the design of the systems and procedures required.
- We issued policy guidelines to the RAEC and the Market Operator in relation to the operation of the Competitive Electricity Market. These policy guidelines cover seven sections, including self-consumption, Energy Communities, flexibility in the distribution system, and electricity interconnection.
- We promoted the legislative, but also the effective independence of the Cyprus Transmission System Operator (TSO) from the vertically integrated AHK. After intensive consultation, we made the necessary legislative arrangements to ensure the rights of existing AHK employees who decide to remain with the TSO, e.g.e.g. in relation to Pension Funds, Medical Care, Employees' Welfare and Scientific Staff Welfare, Employees' Assistance and Scientific Staff Assistance. At the same time, special incentives will be allowed, by decision of the Special Committee of the ICSC, with a view to retaining existing experienced staff.
With the adoption of the relevant amending bill, it will be possible to issue a Decree, in which the procedure for the transfer of benefits and/or rights of the AHK staff who choose to become members of the ICSC staff will be defined, in order to speed up the whole process.
One of the key priorities of the Ministry in relation to the operation of the competitive electricity market is to create the necessary conditions that will lead to the reduction of the cost of electricity to every household Among other things, therefore, in order to protect Cypriot consumers from the energy crisis that is afflicting the entire world, we are taking measures, the cost of which has, to date, exceeded €440 million.
At the same time, we have redefined and are implementing our energy strategy, on the basis of which, alongside the construction work currently underway for the implementation of the LNG import terminal, we are intensifying efforts to bring natural gas by pipeline, from a deposit To achieve this goal, we are in intensive discussions with companies operating in our EEZ and with neighbouring countries.
In addition, we are also planning to exploit domestic Renewable Energy Sources, as they contribute to the diversification of our energy mix, the security of energy supply, the reduction of energy costs and the achievement of our environmental objectives.
In addition, the utilisation of domestic Renewable Energy Sources is high on our agenda, as they contribute to the diversification of our energy mix, the security of energy supply, the reduction of energy costs and the achievement of our environmental objectives.
Particularly in recent years, we have experienced significant technological innovations in photovoltaic systems, which have greatly improved their performance compared to their initial levels. These developments, combined with the energy crisis, but also with our Ministry's improved Subsidy Schemes for production from RES for own 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 a photovoltaic system on the roofs of their premises. They are thus assuming the dual role of consumer and producer.
The point is that the greater the penetration of this dispersed production of electricity by each consumer, the more urgent the need to find mechanisms to manage this large and complex volume of data becomes. It is therefore urgent at this stage to implement grid modernisation and upgrading projects in order to remove the technical barriers associated with the further penetration of distributed generation from RES.
The massive expansion of electricity in all sectors of the Cypriot economy - residential, tertiary, industrial and agricultural sectors and transport - and the realisation of the opportunities that European and national legislation gives to citizens for more active involvement in the electricity market and organised Energy Communities, depend to a large extent on the technological transformation of grids into smart grids, the equal access to them of new storage technologies, as well as the exploitation of demand response. Therefore, the installation of smart meters and the transformation of the grid into an intelligent one is a one-way street.
In this direction, the Ministry managed to secure an amount of €35 million for the installation of 400,000 smart meters from the Distribution System Operator, while it also supported the requests of AHK to finance works for the upgrade and automation of the grid for €83.3 million from the Fair Transition Fund. In addition, the digitalisation of the buildings sector, with the development of smart homes and well-connected communities, is also expected to help the integration of Renewable Energy Systems and the development of electrification infrastructure.
Of course, investment will also be required to install storage systems, most of which are currently available but at a cost prohibitively high for the majority of consumers. The Ministry is already subsidising the installation of storage systems in households and businesses through the "Save - Upgrade" and Electric Vehicle Charging from Renewable Energy Sources Grant Schemes, and is currently exploring all possibilities for installing energy storage systems in the electricity system. In particular, we are examining both the implementation of a support scheme for storage systems combined with RES systems (hybrid installations) and the installation and operation of centralised energy storage systems.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In conclusion, I would like to express my certainty that your Association, always maintaining the high level of professionalism that characterises it, will support the efforts of the Ministry of Energy for the operation of the competitive electricity market and the transition to a mixed electricity market.
