Thousands of Cyprus households with rooftop solar panels face two separate problems this spring: all stored energy accumulated through net metering and net billing schemes will be wiped by the end of March, while output cuts will continue through at least April.
Both developments come as consumers already face higher electricity bills due to rising fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict.
The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) confirmed the details to Phileleftheros. The stored kilowatt-hour reset is required under contract terms based on old Energy Ministry decisions, and will apply to all consumers with ripple control systems — the remote-disconnection technology mandatory for solar installations — regardless of how long their system has been running.
Renewable output currently exceeds 1,000MW while grid demand stands at around 450MW, making significant production cuts necessary to maintain system stability and security.
To keep the grid stable, the EAC is required to maintain around 200MW of conventional generation at all times, leaving only around 250MW available from renewables.
As a result, output cuts — meaning the remote switching-off of household and small commercial solar systems — will continue through April across all 20 consumer groups.
The cuts primarily affect those who installed solar panels from late 2023 onwards, as ripple control became mandatory for new installations from that point. Small commercial systems grouped under the same scheme are also affected.
Once the end-of-March reset has taken place, the schedules diverge. Net metering households will have their stored kilowatt-hours zeroed again in February–March 2029, and every three years thereafter. Net billing customers face an annual reset, with the next due in October–November 2027.