‘There are no plans to close Dhekelia power station’

There are “no plans” to close the Dhekelia power station, electricity authority (EAC) chairman Giorgos Petrou said on Thursday.

He was speaking during a visit to the power station, and added that by the summer of 2025, two new generators would be installed there.

Additionally, he confirmed that the danger of potential power outages across much of the island has now passed after repair works on a faulty generator had been completed.

“We finally managed to avoid any outages at all, and I am happy to report that the repair of the generator has been completed, and it will return to operation today,” he said.

He added, “the problem came about suddenly. These machines are very old and one suffered a technical problem, so we had to change something.”

He also commended the workers who had fixed the generator and ensured there were no outages, saying, “staff have been working around the clock, and we also asked people, where they can, to cut back on their use.

“So, with the cooperation of the public and with the help of our colleagues, we managed to restart the generator today. However, we have not had a day off in a week,” he said.

Moving on to the matter of upgrades to the station, he said it was “one of the first issues the new board of directors dealt with,” and that an announcement is set to be made on Friday regarding the two new planned generators.

“Our wish is that they will be put into operation by the summer, but it is not as easy as just saying so as they are quite large investments,” he said.

He also spoke of the “balancing act” required regarding the outputs of the power stations at Dhekelia and Vasiliko, saying “the Dhekelia station serves the Famagusta and Larnaca districts and part of the Nicosia districts, and we want it to remain that way.”

“There are no plans at all to abandon this station,” he said.

Finally, he was asked questions regarding electricity bills amid requests submitted by the EAC to raise prices for consumers by as much as 25 per cent.

Despite the request having come from his own organisation, he said he “hopes” there will be no price increases for consumers, but that the matter would be discussed at Friday’s EAC board meeting.

Earlier, he had said that if there was effort on the part of both the EAC and the government, consumers can be spared price hikes.