Cyprus must look beyond diesel and natural gas, says Damianou

Neither diesel nor natural gas can provide a long-term answer to Cyprus’ energy needs, Cyprus Institute president Stavros Malas said on Friday, stressing the need to develop sustainable energy storage alongside renewable generation. Malas was speaking during a visit by Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nicodemos Damianou to the Cyprus Institute’s PROTEAS research facility at Pentakomo. Describing PROTEAS as “a miniature version of Cyprus as it should be”, Malas said the facility is being used to test technologies for both renewable energy production and energy storage. As a geographically isolated island, Cyprus must look not only at greener ways of generating electricity but also at viable, long-term methods of storing it, he said.

The transition needs to be planned now “if we do not want to remain a country producing very expensive electricity”. “Neither the fuel we have now, diesel, nor natural gas are long-term solutions,” Malas said. Damianou described PROTEAS as “a living example of what Cyprus wants to become”, a place where cutting-edge technologies can be tested and innovative solutions developed for wider application. He said the facility demonstrated that Cyprus has the potential to become more than simply an energy consumer. The country, he added, could attract innovative companies capable of developing solutions for a changing energy landscape. “The reason I am here is to see and examine, as a government, these innovative solutions being implemented at PROTEAS,” Damianou said. During the visit, the deputy minister toured the facilities and was briefed on the laboratory’s work, including research linked to addressing climate change. He was…