Republic of Cyprus Second Voluntary National Report - Sustainable development goals

69 Cyprus is highly dependent on oil and petroleum products imports. In regards to oil and petroleum products imports Cyprus follows the EU average (96.8%) with 99.7%. Efforts to import liquefied natural gas are ongoing. The authorities have committed to complete the necessary infrastructure to import liquefied natural gas by the end of 2022. This is expected to help to diversify the energy mix in the country, reduce primary energy consumption and GHG emissions in the electricity production process and, also, reduce the price of electricity. The liberalisation of the electricity market in Cyprus (expected in 2022), is paramount to increase production of electricity from renewables and reduce the price of electricity, for consumers. Moreover, both electricity storage and interconnections are highly important in increasing renewable energy penetration since they will allow for much faster integration of renewables to the electricity system and for exporting produced renewable electricity. For storage, the relevant legal framework is under preparation while funding schemes are in the pipeline. The EuroAsia Interconnector project for the electricity interconnection between Cyprus, Israel and Crete is planned to operate by 2025. On the percentage of the population unable to keep their home adequately warm, Cyprus places 25 th among EU countries with 21%, relative to 6.9% of the EU. Cyprus ranks equally low, after the decomposition of the indicator to individuals with an income below the 60% of the median equivalised income. In all cases, this percentage shows a significant downward trend from 2010 to 2019 (from 27.3% in 2010, to 21% in 2019). GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES Energy Efficiency • Energy efficiency obligation scheme for energy distributors. • Energy Fund of Funds providing soft loans for energy efficiency. • Individual energy efficiency interventions and en- ergy efficiency retrofits in governmental buildings. • Implementation of information and education measures. • Support schemes/incentives for promoting en- ergy efficiency in households, enterprises and wider public. • Energy efficient street lighting. • Additional floor space “allowance” for build- ings exceeding the minimum energy efficiency requirements set by national law. • Advanced Metering Infrastructure Plan. • Promotion of energy efficiency in enterprises, through voluntary commitments. • Action plan for increasing energy efficiency in the road transport. • Energy efficiency in the water sector. • Vehicle excise duty based on CO2 emissions. • Energy consumption fee for Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and energy efficiency applied on electricity bills. • Excise tax on road transport fuels exceeding the minimum levels by EU legislation. Security of supply and Internal Energy Market • Exploitation of renewable energy sources and domestic hydrocarbon deposits. • Creation of necessary infrastructure for Lique- fied Natural Gas (LNG) import and future devel- opment of the internal gas network. • Development of demand response and energy storage. • Electricity interconnection between Cyprus, Crete, and Israel (Euroasia Interconnector). • Connection of Cyprus with Israel and Greece with a natural gas pipeline (EastMed Pipeline). • Concrete measures to tackle energy poverty. Renewable energy sources • Various RES Support schemes for Self-Consumption. • Synergies with other sectors (energy efficiency, waste, security of supply and Internal Energy Market) to promote RES in all energy sectors. • Support schemes for RES to participate in the electricity market. • Replacement of old solar collectors for households. • Replacement of solar collectors for commercial purposes and use of solar technologies for high process heat and/or solar cooling. • Old vehicle scrapping scheme and financial incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles (both new and used). • Promotion of the open loop geothermal energy. • Installation of RES and energy efficiency tech- nologies in public buildings. • Electricity storage installations, framework de- velopment and possible financial incentives. • Various other measures for RES in transport (new bus contracts (using alternative fuels, electric- ity, gas, and biofuels B100), use of biofuels (and biogas) in the transport sector. • Other indirect measures that will help to in- crease energy efficiency and thus the RES share in transport. • Statistical transfer of energy to be examined (ex- porting energy in case of electricity interconnector).