Government should expedite decisions on renewable energy, OEB says

Cyprus Federation of Employers and Industrialists (OEB) calls on the government to expedited its decisions in a bid to boost investments on renewable sources of energy, the federation`s President Christos Michaelides has said, as the Energy Ministry notes that the field records progress.

Speaking during a press conference ahead of the Save Energy 2016 fair, Michaelides referred to a meeting he had with Minister of Energy, Commerce Industry and Tourism, noting that despite the very good programmes implemented by the Ministry and despite progress, he has been told that no definite decisions have been taken so far.

On the problems observed in the Reneweable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund, Michaelides said the state should fulfill its commitments and contracts if it wants to be taken seriously and to attract foreign investments.

“We cannot attract investors when we say that current contracts may be revoked after a few years when a problem arises in the state coffers,” he said.

Michaelides said he does not downgrades the broader challenges of the Cypriot economy or the budget but added that there should be a stable and long-term policy as well as consistency towards investors.

On his part, Constantinos Xihilos, Deputy Director of Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy recalled that a decision taken by the Council of Ministers stipulates that the investors in a commercial energy production system can be funded for the production cost until the operation of a competitive energy market in Cyprus.

“An investor with the assistance of an expert should monitor the developments regarding the shaping of the regulations of a competitive market to be able to ascertain a possible opportunity,” he added.

Furthermore, Xihilos said preliminary results show that the contribution of renewable energy in the 2015 electricity generation reached 9.8% from 8% in 2014.

He noted that the total capacity of renewable energy has exceeded 253 MW of which 85MW from wind parks and 10.4 from biomass stations.