Karantonis on AlphaNews.Live: The Competitive Electricity Market Will Go Through 'Childhood Diseases' and 'Adolescence'

With the new year, the energy sector in Cyprus is transitioning to a more complex model where the consumer takes on a key role. Fanos Karantonis, President of SEAPEK, assesses the turning points of 2025 and outlines the challenges for 2026.

Mr. Karantonis emphasizes that the energy transition is no longer based solely on increasing production from RES, but also on energy management and system flexibility. Self-consumption, demand response, and active consumer participation are emerging as critical tools.

For 2026, he expects greater emphasis on consumer activation through dynamic pricing and demand response schemes. He expresses fears about the speed of adoption of these tools on a mass scale.

He also refers to the opening of the Competitive Electricity Market on October 1, 2025, a historic milestone marking the end of a 75-year monopoly.

Mr. Karantonis predicts that the market will go through 'childhood diseases' and 'adolescence,' but the ultimate destination is competitiveness and the consumer at the center.