Owners of commercial solar parks in Cyprus have disputed claims by Direct Democracy party leader and MEP Fidias Panayiotou that electricity bills could fall by up to 20% if businesses lowered their prices.
Panayiotou had urged President Nikos Christodoulides to intervene over electricity costs. He said solar parks generate power for about 5 to 8 cents per kilowatt-hour but sell it for 25 to 30 cents, leaving room for lower prices.
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Solar Operators Challenge The Numbers
The Energy Market Association (EMA), which represents commercial solar park operators, said Panayiotou’s calculation does not account for operating costs, overheads, the lack of storage capacity and frequent curtailments of renewable generation.
Solar power accounted for 6.4% of all electricity traded since Cyprus launched its competitive electricity market in 2025, according to the EMA. The association also said the average market price for solar electricity is well below the 25 to 30 cents cited by Panayiotou.
An electricity systems expert estimated that solar power sold on the day-ahead market averages 14.48 cents per kilowatt-hour. A separate simulation found that even an 11-cent price cap would reduce the weighted average electricity price by only 1.8%, rather than the 20% suggested by Panayiotou.
“Mr Panayiotou cannot question the above data with generalities and aphorisms,” the EMA said. “Numbers are answered with numbers, and data with data.”
The association has invited Panayiotou to meet and discuss the figures.
OEV Warns Against A Single Solution
The EMA is a member of the Federation of Employers and Industrialists (OEV), which also rejected the idea that one intervention could significantly reduce electricity prices.
“No action on its own, not even the country’s electricity link to Greece and Israel, can yield spectacular reductions in the cost of electricity,” OEV said. The federation added that infrastructure investments must be recovered through electricity prices and could increase costs in the short term.
OEV also warned against presenting Cyprus’ electricity-price problem as something that can be resolved through a single measure.
Cyprus’ Competitive Electricity Market
Cyprus launched its full competitive electricity market in October 2025 after years of delays. The system includes private electricity producers, suppliers, aggregators and renewable-energy companies, with electricity traded in 30-minute intervals.
The dispute comes as policymakers consider how to reduce electricity costs while the new market develops. Solar generation, grid constraints, storage capacity and infrastructure investment all affect the final price paid by consumers.
