Category: Cyprus News Agency

Repairs to two power-generating units with a combined capacity of 165 MW, which developed faults on Wednesday, are expected to be completed during the day, the Transmission System Operator Cyprus (TSOC) said in a statement, citing an update received on Thursday from the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).

‘If the units operate smoothly and are restored to service, demand is expected to be fully met, while the necessary system reserves will also be secured,’ it added.

Referring to Wednesday’s power cuts, TSOC said the National Energy Control Centre carried out controlled, rotating load shedding across Cyprus on July 22.

It said the decision was deemed necessary because of the particularly high temperatures and the resulting increase in electricity demand, combined with unexpected faults at conventional power-generating units.

‘The measure was implemented to balance electricity generation and demand, with safeguarding the stability of the power system as the absolute priority,’ the statement said.

It added that the maximum duration of the interruption for each group of consumers did not exceed 22 minutes.

Speaking to CNA, TSOC National Energy Control Centre Assistant Director Charis Zavallis said the EAC had included the two units in its generation schedule and that, provided everything proceeded as planned, they would be restored to service and made available to TSOC.

EAC spokesperson Christina Papadopoulou told CNA that faults had occurred on Wednesday at two power-generating units, one at the Dhekelia power station and the other at Vasilikos, and that efforts were under way to repair them.

‘We hope that at least the Dhekelia unit will be available today, if not both units,’ she added.

CNA/CST/HT/AGK/2026S, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

Cyprus Stock Exchange

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) All Share Index closed at today`s stock exchange meeting as follows:

MEETING DATE: 23/07/2026

INDICES BASE VALUES: FTSEMed=5000, OTH

EURO (pound )

TRADED VALUE:

445,765.14

INDEX

VALUE

% DIFF.

VALUE (pound )

FTSE/CySE 20

179.230

-1.120

435,509.970

MAIN MARKET INDEX

241.990

-1.220

349,526.140

INVESTMENT COMPANIES MARKET INDEX

2,868.900

-1.970

49,833.870

CSE GENERAL INDEX

305.000

-1.100

435,585.820

HOTELS INDEX

1,861.830

0.100

4,393.600

ALTERNATIVE MARKET INDEX

2,023.100

-0.870

91,049.920

* The second column presents the percentage variation of the indices as compared to the last meeting.

The University of Nicosia Achieves Prestigious ICAEW Strategic Degree Status for its BSc Accounting Programme

The University of Nicosia (UNIC) is proud to announce the formal approval of its BSc Accounting programme as a strategic degree by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). This recognition elevates the existing partnership between the two institutions, offering students a truly unique and accelerated path to the globally respected ACA qualification.

While the programme already held 8 credits for prior learning (CPL), this new strategic status enhances the framework, allowing students to sit the four ICAEW Professional Level examinations (Golden credits) directly as part of their undergraduate studies.

“Our collaboration with ICAEW is a testament to our commitment to providing world-class education that bridges academic theory with professional practice,” said Professor Petros Lois, Head of the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance at the University of Nicosia. “This strategic partnership means our students don’t have to wait until after graduation to start their journey to becoming chartered accountants. They will be fully prepared to sit these exams during their degree, significantly accelerating their career prospects.”

A New Model of Professional Excellence

Under the newly approved model, the ICAEW examinations are fully integrated into the BSc Accounting programme. Students will be able to take the exams directly with ICAEW as computer-based exams once they have successfully completed the corresponding academic modules mapped to the syllabus. This module-to-exam mapping ensures students are progressively prepared throughout the programme, rather than waiting until the very end to attempt all four exams.

Crucially, the assessment, marking, and reporting of results for these four examinations will be managed directly by ICAEW, ensuring the highest standards of rigour and global consistency. Students will graduate not only with a top-tier BSc degree but also with significant progress already made towards their ACA qualification.

“A strategic partnership like this is a game-changer for our students,” noted Professor Petros Lois. “By working directly with ICAEW, we are providing a more integrated and risk-free path for our students. They receive the same rigorous syllabus and global standards, while the University benefits from ICAEW’s world-class assessment processes.”

Next Steps and Support

The University and ICAEW will now work closely on the operational processes to ensure a seamless experience for students. This includes coordinating how cohorts will be registered for the ICAEW exams and how results will be reported back to the University to form part of the student’s academic record.

The first cohort of students will be eligible to sit the ICAEW exams within the upcoming academic year, with a dedicated team from both UNIC and ICAEW managing the process to ensure a smooth transition for all students.

For more information, please contact:

Prof. Petros Lois

Head, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance,

School of Business, University of Nicosia

CYPRUS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY

FORECAST FOR THE SEA AREA OF CYPRUS (C)

FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1800 23/07/2026 UNTIL 1800 24/07/2026

Area covered is 8 kilometers seawards.

Winds are in BEAUFORT scale. Times are local times.

Atmospheric pressure at the time of issue: 1001hPa (hectopascal)

Seasonal low pressure is affecting the area. The weather will be mainly fine, but local mist and low cloud are expected, later tonight and early morning.

Visibility: Good, but moderate to poor in mist

Sea surface temperature: 28°C

Warnings: NIL

AREA PERIOD WIND STATE OF SEA

West Coast

Night Southwest to Northwest 3 to 4, later near the coast North to Northeast 3 Slight, later near the coast Slight to Moderate

Morning Southwest to West 3 to 4, locally South 4 Slight to Moderate, locally Moderate

Afternoon Southwest to West 4, at times locally West 4 to 5 Moderate

South Coast

Night Southwest to West 3 to 4, later Northwest to Northeast 2 to 3 Slight, later Smooth to Slight

Morning Southeast to Southwest 3, gradually Southwest to West 4 Smooth to Slight, gradually Slight

Afternoon Southwest to West 4 to 5, gradually locally 6 Slight to Moderate

East Coast

Night Southwest to West 3 to 4, soon Variable 2 to 3 Slight, soon Smooth to Slight

Morning East to Southeast 3, gradually South to Southwest 4 Smooth to Slight, gradually Slight

Afternoon Southwest 4 to 5 Slight, locally Slight to Moderate

North Coast

Night Southwest to West 3 to 4, later South to Southwest 3 Slight

Morning Southeast to Southwest 3 to 4, locally 4 Slight, locally Slight to Moderate

Afternoon Southwest to West 4, locally offshore 4 to 5 Slight to Moderate, locally offshore Moderate

President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, who departs on Saturday for Athens, has said that there is a possibility that he will meet with EU Special Representative for Cyprus, Rafaele Fitto, after his meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The President was replying to journalists’ questions on his arrival at the Timios Stavros Square, in Omodos, where he will address the inauguration event of the square.

Asked about his visit to Athens on Saturday, President Christodoulides said that “I will go on Saturday morning for an exchange of views” adding that coordination already exists, “but we considered it necessary to hold this meeting, in view of the very important visit of the UN Secretary-General.” It is noted that the UNSG will visit Cyprus 27-29 of July.

President Christodoulides added that there is a possibility “that we will have the EU Envoy, Mr Fitto, immediately afterwards”.

The President underlined that ‘we want to take advantage of this mobility that we have largely created through our actions, through our strategy, so that we can achieve the goal of resuming the talks on the basis of the agreed framework from where they were interrupted in 2017″.

Replying to another question about UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus Maria Angela Holguin, he said that she was in Brussels and had meetings with Fitto, during which she was informed about the EU’s positions on the Cyprus issue, which, as he said, ‘are completely aligned with the positions of the Republic of Cyprus.’

The President pointed out that a ‘very important meeting” is taking place tomorrow, as Holguin will be in Turkey, to meet with the Turkish Foreign Minister.

After Turkey, she will be in Cyprus, the President said.

‘We are in contact so that on Sunday or early Monday there will be a meeting with Holguin, in anticipation of the arrival of the UN Secretary-General,’ he concluded.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

After informal meetings in 2025, followed by a hiatus of several months, deliberations are underway for a new meeting in broader format to be held, as the term of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nears its end. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.

A UN diplomatic source in Brussels has told CNA that concrete results will be needed from the visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Cyprus on July 27-29, and from the meeting of the tripartite meeting, before the process can move forward to five-party conference talks.

At the same time, the source denied recent press reports about the existence of a plan, stressing the UN’s focus remains on preparing for Guterres’ visit to the island at the end of July and his meeting with the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides.

The source noted that the contacts of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on the Cyprus issue, Maria Angela Holguín, both in Brussels and in Ankara tomorrow, Friday, fall within this same framework.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

After informal meetings in 2025, followed by a hiatus of several months, deliberations are underway for a new meeting in broader format to be held, as the term of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nears its end. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties.

Cyprus’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, held a phone conversation with UK’s Minister of State Stephen Doughty, congratulating him on his reappointment.

In a post on X, Kombos said that he had a “timely exchange” with Doughty, where they exchanged views on Cyprus – UK bilateral relations, as well as on regional developments.

Every effort will be made to ensure there are no power cuts during the night, said Energy Minister Michalis Damianos on Thursday, while expressing his confidence that, with the installation of 120-megawatt storage units in January 2027, these problems will not arise next summer.

Speaking to journalists upon his arrival at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) headquarters for a presentation of the report on the work of the organisation’s Board of Directors.

?sked about the power cuts, the Minister stated that it appeared there had been a fault with the EAC’s generators, which resulted in the need for some power cuts last night.

‘As the operator has also said, we have over 1,000 megawatts of conventional generation and over 1,000 megawatts of generation from solar panels, which means there is no supply problem during the day,’ he noted.

He added that the problem of supply adequacy arises in the early hours of the night, when temperatures remain high but there is no generation from photovoltaic systems. ‘This is something that can only be resolved by storing solar energy, some of which is lost during the day,’ he said, adding that the operator has awarded the contract for 120-megawatt storage units.

‘They will be in Cyprus in January 2027 and will certainly be installed before the summer of 2027, so that we do not face these problems next summer,’ he added.

He said that EAC staff ‘have gone above and beyond to ensure that these cuts are kept to the absolute minimum. We need to be a little patient. People are certainly suffering, and they shouldn’t have to.’

‘It is a problem that should have been resolved by now. We are doing everything we can,’ he added.

Asked whether further power cuts were expected, the Minister said he could not know whether there would be any further faults at the EAC, and that the only person who could predict this was the operator managing the system ‘and certainly does so in such a way that, should any disruption occur, it lasts only a few minutes so as not to inconvenience the public’.

He noted that temperatures are high today and look set to fall tomorrow. ‘We’ll see how things go during the day and do everything possible to ensure there are no power cuts overnight,’ he added.

Asked about energy storage, who is responsible for the fact that we face the same situation every year, and why the public are not informed about which areas will experience power cuts, Damianos stated that the EAC itself should provide this information, and that the operator is proceeding with the 120 megawatts ‘so that we do not have these problems next summer’. He also said that a limit of up to 150 megawatts has been set for private storage, ‘so we believe that part of these megawatts will be part of our energy mix by next summer’.

‘By now, obviously, part of this problem should have been resolved. Whether we could have brought the storage facilities online more quickly is something we need to look into. It is something we are working towards,’ he added.

Asked whether responsibility should be assigned for the situation, given that the same thing happened last year, the Minister said he was not in a position to say who was responsible or how that responsibility would be assigned. ‘Everyone has their own part to play in the country’s energy security. We are handling the political side of this issue. The technical aspects are already in the hands of the experts. We are doing everything we can to ensure we have this security of supply next summer,’ he said.

Asked whether any of the ageing units would be replaced, the Minister stated that the EAC has gone ahead with an order for its own new generators, which will be of lower capacity. He said that the first two are due in 2028 and the third in 2029, and that they will need to be installed to replace the three old EAC generators at Dekeleia. ‘The solution lies in the arrival of natural gas at Vasiliko, which will largely replace this conventional generation,’ he pointed out.

‘Natural gas is less polluting and cheaper; that is why the energy plan clearly aims to complete the project at Vasiliko before 2030, by which time these EAC units must be decommissioned,’ he said.

Asked about the country’s energy self-sufficiency, Damianos stated that ‘with the arrival of natural gas, we believe that this self-sufficiency will be achieved. Natural gas, new EAC generators, and storage. That is the strategy and that is how we will meet our own energy needs,’ he said.

The share of renewable energy sources in gross electricity consumption in Cyprus stood at 27.5% in 2025, according to data published on Thursday by Eurostat.

Based on Eurostat data, Cyprus is among the countries with the lowest shares of renewables in electricity consumption in the EU. Lower rates were recorded by Malta, with 11.2%, Czechia, with 19.2%, Luxembourg, with 23.3%, and Slovakia, with 24.1%.

At the same time, the overall share of energy from renewable sources in gross final energy consumption in Cyprus stood at 21.5% in 2025.

In the EU, renewable energy sources accounted for 49.9% of gross electricity consumption in 2025, marking an increase of 2.4 percentage points compared with 2024. The corresponding share stood at 15.9% in 2004, when the time series began.

Among EU countries, Sweden had the highest share of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources, at 65.4%. Sweden relied mainly on solid biomass, hydropower and wind energy.

It was followed by Finland, with 53.0%, relying on solid biomass, wind and hydropower, and Denmark, with 48.2%, where renewable energy comes mainly from solid biomass, wind energy and biogas.

The lowest overall shares of renewable energy were recorded in Belgium, with 14.9%, Slovakia, with 16.3%, and Ireland, with 17.2%.

The government will soon be called upon to make decisions on the major projects that will be included in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday evening.

Speaking to journalists upon his arrival at the inauguration ceremony for the revamped Omodos Square and part of its Traditional Core, a traditional village in Limassol district, President Christodoulides said that “our government will soon have to decide on major projects to be implemented across Cyprus under the next Multiannual Financial Framework, with a total value exceeding pound 1 billion.”

He said that his intention is for the government to discuss the matter in cooperation with local authorities, community leaders, municipalities, and district administrations, “so that we can make full use of all available European resources to achieve the revitalisation of our rural areas, where you can experience the true spirit of Cypriot hospitality.”

Referring to the event, he spoke of “a landmark day,” noting that the Cabinet was present because “we genuinely believe and are investing in the future of mountainous Cyprus and our rural communities.” He added that Omodos is a classic example of the successful development and utilisation of Cyprus’s semi-mountainous regions.