Avoiding High Costs in Electricity is Possible with Energy Efficiency in Production and Consumption

Prof. Dr. Serkan Abbasoğlu, the Vice-Rector of Cyprus International University (CIU) and Director of the Sustainable Energy Research Center, and also a member of the Board of the Union of Cyprus Turkish Chambers of Architects and Engineers, made statements on energy efficiency, high cost of electricity and possible measures to be taken.

Prof. Dr. Abbasoğlu noted that electricity costs are increasing day after day, but the main reason, if not the only reason for this rise, is because of the fact that the oil price per barrel was 40  plus dollars in 2020, whereas now it has gone up to $105-$106. Abbasoğlu said, “This is why we need to diversify our resources and update our production-consumption models. However, unfortunately, although these issues have been discussed for years and the point to be reached is known, a solution has only tried to be found by investing or requesting investment.”

Studies on solar energy, which is of great importance, have been started during this process, but the desired point has yet to be reached.  Abbasoğlu said, “There is a local, environmentally friendly and sustainable energy source in our country. There was a time when everything started well, but due to the way it was handled and unplanned permissions granted, the solar energy process is also blocked at the moment.”

Abbasoğlu said they care about solar energy as a university, adding "When we implemented the first private installation of solar photovoltaic systems at our university in 2015 under my coordination, there was hardly anyone aware of this on our island at the time."

Energy efficiency is very important in production, but especially to control demand, that is, to reduce consumption, Abbasoğlu said, “Otherwise, we have to make a separate investment for it. For this reason, it is important that we reduce our energy consumption, both on residential and business bases, without downgrading our comfort or efficiency.”

Abbasoğlu emphasized the fact that we rely on oil import and oil costs will continue to rise, and for that matter we need to control our energy consumption and create a culture of efficient production.

Pointing out that investing in energy efficiency is one of the important measures that can be taken, Abbasoğlu also stated that these investments are divided into two as buildings and industry.

Abbasoğlu, stated that insulation of buildings is the primary investment in energy efficiency. “Insulation reduces energy consumption in a building by 20-25%. In addition, device selection is also important in  building investments. Both the selection of the devices with the right capacities and the fact that they are energy efficient products will enable us in the short term to save on consumption. Dr. Abbasoğlu pointed out that although there are Energy Efficiency experts working on these issues on our island, there is lack of legal legislation and awareness.

“Energy costs are now being questioned in the country due to high bills, but we should actually question why we have come to this situation rather than complaining about the high bills. We established the Energy Efficiency Association about 7-8 months ago. Our main goal is to contribute to the formation of a legal legislation on energy efficiency and to spread this awareness in our society,” Abbasoğlu said.

Prof. Dr. Abbasoğlu underlined that in addition to increasing the number of companies providing energy efficiency, namely Energy Service Companies (ESCO), solutions can be produced by charging different rates during hours of intense electricity usage, as was the case in the past.

Noting that one of the biggest mistakes in our country is integrating energy with electricity, Abbasoğlu said, “I am sure that there are very valuable mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, financiers and lawyers in the KIB-TEK Board of Directors. But these people cannot manage the energy in Northern Cyprus. They can only direct the production, distribution and transmission processes of electricity on our island. Therefore, an autonomous supreme board is required for the management and control of the energy sector.”

Noting that imported fuel oil is used in the TRNC, Abbasoğlu said, “At this point, investment and changes are inevitable, and we should transition to natural gas in the near future. In addition, since no measures have been taken all these years, it has become compulsory to make investments very soon. Otherwise, the electricity problem will grow even more in terms of both cost and supply during the summer. In other words, price hikes will be on the agenda again, but what is worse is power cuts will increase.”