Guidelines for the amendment of licences and exemptions from a construction and operation licence for power stations
The Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority shall issue the following guidelines with regard to the framework for the amendment of licences and exemptions from a construction and operation licence for power stations:
Increase in installed capacity
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An increase in the installed capacity of the licence / Exemption from a construction licence may be allowed.
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An increase in installed capacity for licence-Exemption is not allowed if the total licensed capacity of the station upon modification exceeds the maximum capacity for which a licence-Exemption may be granted.
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In order to increase the installed capacity of a licence / Exemption from an operating licence, the existing licence / Exemption from a construction licence must be amended first, followed by the amendment of the licence / Exemption from an operating licence. If there is no valid licence / Exemption from a construction licence, a new licence / Exemption from a construction licence application must be submitted with a capacity equal to the requested installed capacity increase, followed by the amendment of the licence / Exemption from an operating licence.
Changes in technology
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Changes regarding the power station's technology are not allowed (a power station operating on conventional fuels cannot be modified to produce power using any RES or vice versa).
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Changes regarding the power plant’s type of technology are not allowed (a power station using any RES technology cannot be modified to use any other RES technology).
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Changes regarding the manufacturer and the model are allowed (e.g. different type of wind turbine or photovoltaic panel or combined cycle unit).
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Changes regarding the photovoltaic systems support technology are allowed according to CERA Decision No 695/2012.
Change of parcels
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Expansion of a project to adjacent parcels may be allowed. Any modifications/replacement of parcels will be assessed on a case by case basis and will only be allowed if the amendment does not change the nature of the licence / Exemption from licence.
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All parcels of the original licence / licence-Exemption may not be amended/replaced.
Operating regime
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No change to the operating regime of a licence may be allowed (e.g. from commercial use to self-consumption and vice versa).
Notes:
Each amendment request shall be accompanied by the amendment fee as well as all necessary documents regarding the type amendment requested and the type of licence / licence exemption.
Interested holders of a licence / licence-exemption are encouraged to write to the CERA Offices stating their interest in an amendment before submitting an amendment request in order to be properly informed.
When the requested amendment concerns the increase of installed capacity of a construction and operation licence, no amendment fee will be paid, but rather the fee that should have been paid if the additional capacity had been requested via an application for a new licence / licence exemption.
All amendment requests, both those falling under the above guidelines, and those that do not, will be assessed on a case‑by‑case basis.
In any case, an amendment request cannot change the nature of the licence / licence exemption.