This marks an increase of 159 MW from the previous year, when the country had about 638 MW of installed solar capacity.
Cyprus has used various remuneration schemes to support solar development, with the self-consumption scheme and power purchase agreement (PPAs) program being the most prominent contributors to new installations last year.
The self-consumption program includes net metering, which credits residential generators at the retail electricity rate, and net billing, which applies to commercial and industrial systems and credits at the wholesale rate.
The self-consumption schemes added about 100 MW of new PV capacity last year.
For residential units, the government has implemented various support programs, with the latest program announced at the end of 2023.
Andreas Procopiou, local renewable energy expert, told that a key factor for residential net-metering installations is their grid connection status.
“Prior to 2023, residential and small commercial PV installations were largely not managed in real-time by the system operator, as they were not integrated into the SCADA system. However, a significant regulatory shift has since mandated that all new net metering installations must be equipped with ripple control functionality;” added Procopiou. “Essentially, this enables the system operator to remotely turn these PV systems on or off at will, as a measure to balance supply and demand. We are now observing this is becoming increasingly frequent.”
The PPA segment of the country's solar market includes subsidy-free commercial PV projects that sell electricity directly to the wholesale market. In 2024, developers added about 59 MW of new solar capacity under these contracts, with prices set solely by market forces.
Self-consumption and subsidy-free PPA schemes remain the country's most successful for expanding solar capacity. Based on pv magazine information, the self-consumption segment has added a cumulative 350 MW, while subsidy-free PPA projects have contributed 200 MW.
Overall, TSOC said that by the end of December 2024, Cyprus had 1,478 MW of fossil fuel capacity, 797 MW of solar, 155 MW of wind power, and 12.4 MW of biomass plants.
