Cyprus may pick its natural gas supplier for the next 20 years within the coming month, the head of the island’s state electricity authority said on Tuesday. Now exclusively reliant on heavy fuel, authorities are conducting negotiations with short-listed companies for natural gas to come on stream by 2014. A government-controlled company, Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA), is leading talks.
“Negotiations are now in the final stage and I believe we should have more information on this before the end of the year,” said Haris Thrassou, head of the electricity authority EAC. The EAC holds a 44 percent stake in DEFA. In a parallel process to DEFA’s selection of a supplier, the EAC wants a strategic partner to participate in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project. Negotiations there have almost concluded, with the EAC in the final phase of a selection process, Energy Minister Antonis Paschalides told a news conference.
The EAC and its partner will be responsible for running the terminal and regassifying gas, while DEFA will be responsible for its distribution. According to DEFA projections, Cyprus will require an estimated 0.77 million metric tons of LNG each year for electricity generation to start with in 2014, rising gradually to 1.37 million metric tons per annum in 2035.