Electricity demand is being fully met and has begun to decline in recent days as temperatures ease, according to the Cyprus Transmission System Operator (TSO).

Assistant director of the TSO’s National Energy Control Centre, Charis Zavallis, said demand is expected to continue falling over the coming days.

“Demand is dropping and from tomorrow it will fall even further. Temperatures will be around 39C. We expect demand to be around 1,200 megawatts (MW) at midday, which creates no problems because we also have a large amount of photovoltaic generation,” he said.

He added that afternoon demand is expected to range between 950MW and 1,000MW.

Zavallis said there were no concerns regarding the adequacy of the electricity system, noting that 1,251MW of conventional generation capacity is currently available.

“Demand is fully covered both during the day and at night, and we also have reserves in the system to deal with any unexpected faults,” he said.

The highest electricity demand recorded so far this year came on July 23, when it reached 1,372MW at 2.45pm before easing to 1,099MW by 8pm.

Zavallis said it was highly unlikely that electricity demand would exceed the July 23 peak during the remainder of the summer.

Asked about the proposed electricity interconnection between Cyprus and Greece, Zavallis said the cable would allow Cyprus both to import electricity when needed and export surplus power.

“We will be able to receive electricity through the cable when there is a need, and at the same time we will also be able to supply electricity,” he said.

He explained that electricity imports and exports through the interconnection would be determined by market offers submitted by suppliers.

If the project goes ahead, a dedicated department within the TSO would manage the interconnection, with electricity suppliers submitting bids to buy and sell power through the system, he added.

Meanwhile, officials and industry representatives warned the House energy committee on Friday last week that Cyprus could lose up to half of its conventional electricity generation capacity by 2030 unless critical energy projects are completed.

The committee heard that nine ageing conventional units at Dhekelia and Vasiliko will have to be withdrawn under European environmental protocol, creating a potential shortfall of around 750 megawatts (MW) if natural gas has not arrived and the island’s planned electricity interconnection with Greece (GSI) has not been completed.

Energy Minister Michael Damianos said that outages resulted from high electricity demand combined with failures at conventional units.