Cyprus can and must not only participate but play the leading role by acting as an energy hub in our region's hydrocarbon reserves, said the President of the House of Representatives Annita Dimitriou. That is why immediate action is required by accelerating the extraction of undersea natural gas deposits and its exploitation, both to meet domestic and international needs, and to achieve targets within specific timelines on our path to the green transition , he added.
In her address at the 11th Energy Symposium on "Cyprus: Time for Energy Projects", Mrs. Dimitriou went on to say that this requires extreme attention in the negotiations for the exploitation of the deposits of the Cypriot EEZ and the search for the maximum possible benefit for the country.
At the same time, he said, there is an urgent need to promote projects, storage infrastructures and more generally further penetration of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and the use of alternative clean fuels such as hydrogen.
In this context, he added, the evolution of the electricity transmission and distribution network of Cyprus is also necessary to support the increased production of electricity from RES.
Mrs. Dimitriou mentioned that the Symposium is taking place at an extremely critical moment internationally because we are in the midst of two global developments.
The first, he continued, concerns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war in the region which we must not forget has had knock-on effects in the supply chain in trade, the economy and of course the energy sector.
For months, he said, the EU, of which Cyprus is a member state, has been making efforts to wean itself off Russian natural gas, having turned to the possibilities provided by the reserves of the eastern Mediterranean – in some countries, the results are already visible as to whether they should for the EU to move forward with an effectively implemented strategy.
The second development, he noted, concerns the events taking place in our neighborhood, in Israel and in the Middle East, which, as it appears, will dramatically affect the energy sector as well. The conflicts, he said, raging between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas cause deep concern about the possibility of a new energy crisis that will worsen the already strained global economy.
He said that geopolitical and geostrategic realignments inevitably affect the development of natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, a fact that is directly related to Cyprus.
"At the same time we are faced with inflationary pressures and the cost of electricity and according to the latest report of the European Statistical Service, Cyprus is in the 7th place with the highest prices for domestic electricity and the use of renewable energy sources has become more necessary since when".
The President of the Parliament emphasized that within all these facts we must take action with Cyprus not only participating but also playing the leading role by operating as an energy hub in the hydrocarbon reserves of our region.
On October 24, he said, the European Commission presented its initiatives to promote investments in clean technologies on the basis of the European Green Deal with zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, economic growth decoupled from tax use and energy for all.
In this context, he emphasized, the estimates of energy giants active in the Cypriot EEZ for an increase in energy requirements in the coming years and a reduction of pollutants by more than 60% if coal is replaced by natural gas are to be added. Therefore, he said, the fronts are open and many in the field of energy and the margins and time are narrowing, so we need as soon as possible to see what our strategy is and how we implement it.
"The construction and operation of the European project of common interest EuroAsia Interconnector which is launched and is expected to end the energy isolation of Cyprus, reduce the cost of electricity and to strengthen the energy security of our country. There remains the issue of funding which is something we will monitor," he added.
Cyprus, said Mrs. Dimitriou, taking advantage of its geostrategic position, must implement the important agreements it has concluded with third countries and also aim for the further development of regional cooperation mainly by reaching interconnection agreements such as the EastMed pipeline.
Such strategies, he noted, agreements based on the law of the sea and the principles of good neighborliness promote stability, peace and development in the region and can contribute positively to the effort made to achieve a functional and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem.
"There is no room for complacency as long as Turkey takes advantage of the instability, seeking to damage our country's strategic partnerships in energy matters and as long as it questions the sovereign rights of Cyprus in our EEZ. In this critical juncture we are going through, we must work in a coordinated and intensive manner in order to make the most of our energy wealth and to strengthen the energy security of our country", he pointed out.
Finally, he assured that the House of Representatives will support the efforts made to achieve the energy goals of our country and will help in every possible way to accelerate the energy transition of Cyprus in accordance with our international and European commitments.
Source: KYPE