Cyprus power staff strike
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Staff at Cyprus’s state-owned electricity authority went on strike yesterday in protest at government plans to change delivery methods for the introduction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the market over the next three years. Power supplies were not affected but some 2,000 staff at the authority, known as EAC, said they could escalate industrial action later this month. The EAC, which runs Cyprus’s power grid, opposes government plans to create LNG offshore storage units, one of Cyprus’s commitments to the European Union in switching to cleaner forms of energy by 2009. They say the offshore method will be a waste of taxpayers’ money, and favor onshore facilities instead. «The operation of offshore units has not been allowed anywhere in the world,» said Andreas Panorkos, head of one of four labor unions at the EAC which called for industrial action yesterday. «There are some experimental offshore units around the world, we do not believe it can credibly secure the natural gas supply,» he said. «We cannot have our economy reliant on a rickety boat.» Cyprus, heavily reliant on oil, needs to switch to cleaner forms of energy under EU commitments. Its cabinet on June 6 said it would open tenders for the supply and storage of LNG offshore, but would also speed up procedures for the establishment of onshore processing, the EAC’s favored method. Authorities have avoided giving details of the decision, a point of contention with the EAC. «This decision is important for the future of EAC for the next 30 years,» EAC Chairman Charilaos Stavrakis told Reuters. «We want to have a share in the profits.»
