Residents of Larnaca district villages on Sunday staged a protest outside the Dhekelia power station, demanding that it be upgraded with “less polluting machinery” so as to be “less harmful” to both the environment and human health.

Demonstrators arrived at the power station holding banners reading ‘we want to live’, ‘our tolerance has run out’, and other similar slogans, with Ormidia mukhtar Antonis Photi making a speech at the protest.

He declared that the continued operation of the power station in its current form is “unacceptable”, and described its current machinery as “ancient”, saying it “pollutes the oxygen we breathe and our environment, resulting in health problems for the people of the wider area”.

“We are asking for [President Nikos Christodoulides] to be involved more actively to resolve the problem. For several years now, we have been told that the European Union ordered that this power station be closed in 2019, then that an extension was granted until 2023, and a new extension has now been granted until 2029.

“We believe there will be other extensions, but the negative impacts to which we have been subjected must be finally brought to an end,” he said.

The European Commission had initially demanded that Cyprus close the power station, given the fact that it does not meet the EU’s emissions targets, but Cypriot government promises to modernise it to mitigate those emissions saw the deadline extended twice.

Larnaca district governor Angelos Hadjicharalambous said he shares residents’ concerns, and that he will “monitor the actions which need to be taken immediately to resolve the problem”.

He added that he, alongside local MPs and other officials from the Larnaca district, will seek a meeting with Christodoulides “so we can be fully informed about the issue and be given a relevant timetable with specific measures to alleviate the problem, which is impacting both residents and the environment”.

Protestors carrying banners outside the power station

Achna deputy mayor Nikos Vasilias said the electricity authority (EAC) “has not met its commitments”.

“At first, they said the Dhekelia power stations’ operations would be terminated. Then, they said they would upgrade it, and now we are hearing that it will be expanded. If the EAC does not respond to our demands, our mobilisations will become more dynamic until the state intervenes,” he added.

Photi then delivered a memorandum which will also be sent to Christodoulides to the power station’s entrance, which has been signed by the village councils of Ormidia, Xylotymbou, Xylophagou, Dasaki Achnas, and Avgorou.

In the memorandum, it has been requested that the EAC “immediately transition” from its current mazut-powered generators “to using alternative forms of energy, such as natural gas and renewable sources, which are less harmful to the environment and human health”.

The memorandum also called for “environmental compensatory measures” to improve the environment and air quality of the area.

In the week, EAC chairman Giorgos Petrou had told the Cyprus Mail the Dhekelia power station is a “crucial link in the supply of electricity”, and said it is currently planned that the mazut-powered generators would be replaced by diesel generators after 2029.

“We carry out regular measurements and ensure the plants are operating within permitted limits,” he added.