The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) is the incumbent power utility in Cyprus, following public body governance rules. According to EU market regulations, EAC is responsible for almost all conventional power production, owner of the Transmission System (which is operated by the TSOC) and owner and operator of the distribution system. It is the only power supplier in Cyprus. The penetration of RES technologies and other alternative ways of energy to the island energy system is of particular interest to the EAC. EAC has participated in various FP7 European projects acting as a Coordinator and/or work package leader. EAC aims to shift to green energy-sustainability as well as Smart Grids and is moving forward to contribute to this end through coordinated projects.

The EAC actively participates in this project with four of its Divisions/Departments: the Transmission System Planning Division (owner of the system), the Distribution System Operator, the Department of Telecommunications for installing and upgrading the required infrastructure to achieve the data transfer to the Control Center, and the Division of Non-Regulated Services (responsible for investments in renewables, storage, and research activities). EAC will provide to the research team all power system data required for the completion of the project. KIOS and EAC have a long standing successful collaboration in research projects and have also signed a non-disclosure agreement, thus safeguarding the sharing and use of sensitive data.

EAC as a large enterprise in Cyprus will add value to the EMPOWER project activities and will allow the increase of the work and the scope of the project. EAC as the owner of the power system in Cyprus has a key role in the project and with its participation more people will be involved in the research. The development and innovation activities as well as the number of expected results and expectations from the project will significantly increase. This is because with EAC as a partner, researchers will have direct access to the Cyprus power system and will be able to work and apply methods and algorithms adapted to Cyprus.

Available infrastructure and resources necessary for the implementation of the project

  • At present EAC operates three thermal power stations with a total installed capacity of 1478 MW. All stations use heavy fuel oil for the steam plant and gasoil for the gas turbine plant.
  • 300 prosumers (utilizing PVs for electricity production) connected through smart meters to a central management system providing user information related to their energy use and practices.
  • Virtual Power Plant developed by the DSO transforming private generators of sizes ranging from 400 kVA to 1500 kVA that is currently operational through a centralised system available at the DSO SCADA control centre, offering a cold reserve approaching 40 MVA in steps varying from 1 MVA to 39.45 MVA (64 generators).

Relevant publications

  1. N. Philippou, V. Efthymiou, M. Hadjipanayi, et al., “Smart net metering for promotion and cost-efficient grid integration of PV technology in Cyprus (SmartPV)”, Proceedings of 9th International Conference on Deregulated Electricity Market Issues in South Eastern Europe (DEMSEE) 2014
  2. Poullikkas, G. Kourtis, I. Hadjipaschalis,“A review of net metering mechanism for electricity renewable energy sources”, International Journal of Energy and Environment, vol. 4, 975-1002 (2013)

Relevant projects/activities

  1. Pilot AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure) project with 3000 consumers, to identify the best practices for smart grid evolution.
  2. Smart net metering for promotion and cost-efficient grid-integration of PV technology in Cyprus (SmartPV), LIFE+ Programme, European Commission, Amount: €1,219,838. Jul. 2013-Mar 2017.
  3. Generalized Operational FLEXibility for Integrating Renewables in the Distribution Grid, (GOFLEX), H2020-LCE-02-2016, Amount: €11,234,125. Nov. 2016-Oct. 2019.
  4. integrated Smart GRID Cross-Functional Solutions for Optimized Synergetic Energy Distribution Utilization & Storage Technologies, (inteGRIDy), H2020-LCE-02-2016, Amount: €15,840,275. Jan. 2017- Dec. 2020
  5. Promotion of higher penetration of distributed PV through storage for all, (StoRES), INTEREG MED, Amount: 1,991,077. Nov. 2016-2019.