Evidence of Cyprus Energy Strategy, Realities and Options

Cyprus is an insular European Union member state. It is energy isolated and mostly depended on imported fossil fuel. Moreover, its energy planning is affected and guided by relevant European strategies as well as sustainability targets of the United Nations. Although a significant renewables potential, especially solar energy, is available, the country barely fulfills relevant share targets. Furthermore, offshore indigenous natural gas reserves, have been recently detected, but it is not clear, when their exploitation will be possible. Additionally, cable and pipeline interconnection projects are discussed and planned for the island, but major investments are needed in order these to be implemented. In this framework, this work investigates and evaluates the Cyprus energy strategic planning, the realities and options. According to the available data, government energy planning and the present energy system status, three different energy planning scenarios for the country are formulated. These are evaluated, by implementing two separate sustainability evaluation methods. One combining Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL) and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis with Multicriteria Evaluation. And one which implements a Life Cycle Analysis based analysis. Further to the results, conclusions for the most sustainable scenario and recommendations are formulated and discussed.