Cyprus alone is responsible for the slow pace of progress in developing its renewable energy sector, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday, adding that this had left him deeply unsatisfied.

In his address to the 13th Energy Symposium in Nicosia the president laid out the island’s energy strategy with a focus on renewables, gas exploration and regional electricity interconnectedness, offering a number of criticisms at the slow pace of progress in some areas.

His overarching message to the symposium was that Cyprus aimed to to strengthen its role in the regional energy map by pushing forward with plans for the interconnector and by emerging into an alternative energy corridor to Europe

Building on the theme of the conference ‘Time for Action in Energy’, Christodoulides said: “The world now expects projects and not just words.”

“I remind you here that the first [gas] discovery was in 2011. We are in 2025 and there has been no exploitation of the deposits within Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone,” he said.

Although Christodoulides spoke at length on gas exploration and electricity interconnection, he said he especially wanted to focus on the issue of renewables, reserving his strongest criticism for the lack of movement in this area because that was entirely Cyprus’ responsibility.

“The other two pillars, the exploitation of deposits and interconnections, of course depend to a large extent on us, but not exclusively on us,” he said.

“I must tell you publicly that I am not satisfied in a country like Cyprus, with 350 out of 365 days of sunshine, and the penetration of renewable energy sources in our energy mix of 23 per cent.”

Although it had increased, he said he was not at all satisfied with this percentage especially when he has discussions with colleagues from northern Europe, where sunshine is less but their energy mix is much higher.

“I expect the EAC to move even faster, because it has an important role to play in this,” he said.

The president then touted what his government had achieved on renewables with the photovoltaic schemes. He said that around 8,500 applications have been submitted to date, of which 4,000 homes had been upgraded. Also, he said that as part of the new tax reforms, there would be more green incentives to come as well as the long-awaited upgrade to the transmissions system to ensure storage and grid stability.

“It is a project that for the first time will equip our country with a modern technical network, capable of supporting the increased penetration of renewable energy sources,” he said.

“Energy storage is also the key to maximising the use of renewable energy production and of course reducing energy costs.” Storage opportunities will also be offered to homes and businesses.

The goal for Cyprus’ three-pillar energy plan was dual, the president said. “First, to ensure adequacy in the electrical system and second, affordable electricity prices for households and of course for our businesses.,” he added.

Part of the plan that was finally moving ahead, Christodoulides said was the opening up of the electricity market which was finally launched on October 2

“Through the competitive market, the mix of conventional electricity generation and production originating from renewable energy sources is being utilised for the benefit of consumers,” he said.

“This is a significant development, a significant reform, which unfortunately, it must be said, was unreasonably delayed but which creates for the first time a real possibility of choosing a supplier for consumers.”

He added that competition was always a benefit for consumers, and in the long term would contribute to reducing the cost of electricity and to “shaping a market that will be more transparent, more flexible and fairer for the consumer”.

Moving on to the much-debated issue of energy interconnection, the president said Cyprus was discussing such electrical interconnections with other neighbouring states.

He emphasised that the €1.9 billion Great Sea Interconnector project (GSI), connecting the electricity grids of Cyprus, Greece and Israel, was a “solid, strategic choice”, pointing to upgrades to the economic and technical parameters, which were agreed upon in Athens last week.

The president then went on to the recently established 3+1 energy cooperation format between Cyprus, Israel, Greece and the United States, describing it as a strategic move to strengthen energy security and align the interests of the Eastern Mediterranean with those of “powerful states”.

The four-party alliance intends to “diversifying the regions energy supplies by reducing reliance on malign actors and improving connectivity between likeminded regional partners”.

The energy ministers met for the first time in Athens in mid-November. Further meetings are scheduled to take place in Washington, DC between April and June 2026.

The GSI had in recent months become a source of controversy between the Cypriot and Greek governments, eventually leading to questions about its viability being raised publicly after Greek Prime Minister, Kyriacos Mitsotakis, called on Cyprus to honour its financial commitments related to the project.

In the meantime, Cypriot Finance Minister Makis Keravnos expressed his reservations about the project, while media outlets simultaneously alleged Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis, known as a staunch supporter of the GSI, may have a personal conflict of interest.

The disputes were later defused in a joint effort by Energy Minister George Papanastasiou and Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou during a conference call with European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen in mid-October.

In statements issued on the weekend, Christodoulides said that, once completed, the interconnector could form an important part of the wider India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) energy initiative.

Christodoulides announced at the symposium that he would be travelling to Lebanon on November 26 for discussions related to energy planning.