The highest total peak demand for electricity for this summer season was recorded on Thursday, Hara Koussiappa, spokesperson for the Cyprus Transmission System Operator (TSO), told CNA. She noted, however, that there was adequacy and the system responded without problems, while no problems are expected today either, as demand is estimated to fluctuate at the same levels.
As Ms. Kusiappa said, demand yesterday reached 1.070 MW. Specifically, the total maximum demand reached 1.068 MW at 15:45 and 1.069 MW at 16:00, with the TSO representative noting that this was a much higher value, compared to the previous days. She explained, however, that the demand was justified, after the consecutive very hot days of this week, with increased humidity.
Regarding demand for today, Friday, Ms. Kusiappa said that, according to the forecast that has been prepared, demand is expected to be at the same levels, possibly even slightly higher. She added, however, that according to the existing planning, it is expected that there will be sufficiency, without any unforeseen circumstances.
When asked about the share of RES in covering the needs of these days, he replied that during midday hours, when the maximum demand is recorded, the penetration of RES is high, which even exceeds 68% these days.
Also, when asked to compare current conditions with the corresponding period last year, Ms. Kusiappa said that in 2024 there was high demand earlier in June, due to a heat wave, while June this year has flown with milder temperatures so far.
When asked whether there will be sufficiency even in periods with more extreme temperatures, which may occur in the summer, he said that, according to the studies and forecasts that have been made, there may be days with marginal sufficiency. If such periods occur, if emergency failures occur, in addition to regular maintenance, then an insufficiency in the system may arise, he said. He pointed out, however, that even in these emergency cases, the cuts that may need to be made to manage the problem do not last more than 20 minutes and are made on a rotating basis.
Ms. Kusiappa reported that an emergency failure occurred in the production system on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 24, but consumers did not face any problems, as needs were covered by reserves.
When asked if recommendations are being made to consumers for the current period, Ms. Kusiappa said that because the adequacy is not marginal at the moment, there was no need to make recommendations to consumers.
Source: KYPE
