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Projects relating to the Green and Digital Transition of the Water Board of Larnaka, co-financed by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility

The Republic of Cyprus has been allocated €1.2 billion by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) which is part of the Next Generation EU, a recovery package to support member states hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The RRF will finance reform and investments in Member States for the period 2021-2026. The aim is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities relating to green and digital transitions.

For the purposes of the RRF, each Member State has developed a Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) describing the reforms and investments to be implemented during 2021–2026. Cyprus’ RRP is based on five policy axes, namely (1) Public health, civil protection and lessons learned from the pandemic, (2) Accelerated transition to a green economy, (3) Strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of the economy, (4) Towards a digital era and (5) Labour market, social protection, education and human capital.

Cyprus’ RRP includes a 7 million euro investment to support the Water Board of Larnaka’s (LWB) efforts to improve customer service and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the utility operations. LWB’s investment comes under the RRP’s Policy Axis 2 and specifically Component 2.3 – ‘Smart and sustainable water management’, which comprises of actions in the field of Water Supply and Sewerage Services.

LWB’s mission is to ensure the continuous water supply of adequate quality, while simultaneously dealing with challenges such as water losses and the need to upgrade the network and technological infrastructure. This investment will allow the utility to address these challenges through the implementation of the following two measures: (1) Construction of a 10,000 m3 reservoir at Klavdia and (2) Adoption of smart technologies to improve the efficiency of LWB. These measures will be co-funded by the RRF and LWB’s own funds.


Measure 1: Construction of a 10,000 m3 reservoir at Klavdia

The first measure involves the construction of a new 10,000 m3 reservoir at LWB’s compound at Klavdia, where the utility’s existing reservoirs are located. The project includes the construction of the reservoir (reinforced concrete), as well as the installation of mechanical equipment and landscaping of the surrounding area. The construction works began in 2022 and are estimated to finish in 2023. The new reservoir will allow LWB to ensure continuous supply to its customers for 24 hours in the case of interruption to supply. LWB will receive €3 million in funding from the RRF for this measure.

Measure 2: Adoption of smart technologies to improve the efficiency of LWB

The second measure involves the implementation of smart technologies to upgrade LWB’s operations and services. These smart technologies include the following:

  1. The installation and operation of a complete smart water metering system, which involves the replacement of 25,000 customer water meters with new smart meters. The smart meters will be installed in areas that have significantly high non-revenue water, such as the municipalities of Aradippou and Livadia. These meters will wirelessly transmit hourly readings and alerts once a day to a data management platform. This project is expected to be of great benefit to LWB as it will allow the utility to carry out daily water balances for the areas which have installed smart meters and contribute to the timely location of leaks in the distribution network. Moreover, the project will be beneficial to LWB customers who will have a smart water meter installed, as it will allow them to monitor their water consumption and identify potential water leaks within their property.
  2. The installation and operation of water quality and pressure sensors in the network. This will allow LWB to receive real-time data relating to the water pressure and water quality in selected areas of the network, which will improve network management and problem identification.
  3. The development of a Digital Twin Decision Support System, which will simulate real-time operations of the water supply and distribution network. Data and information will be retrieved from LWB’s existing and future systems and inputted into the Digital Twin. The Digital Twin in combination with Artificial Intelligence Tools, as well as hydraulic models will provide dynamic information on the flow, pressure and water quality in the network. Therefore, LWB will be able to use this tool to make decisions on the effective operation of the network, as well as identify potential improvements and possible losses in the network.
  4. The creation of a data “bank” which will be located on a cloud network and where all data from LWB’s systems (e.g. smart water meters, sensors, telemetry, GIS, etc.) will be collected and stored. The stored data will be retrieved and used as input for the Digital Twin and any other system that would require such data.
  5. The creation of an online platform for consumers, which will provide advance online services for bill payment and creation of various applications and reports.

The funding from the RRF for this measure amounts to €4 million. Commencement of works for the implementation of smart water technologies began mid-2022 and will be completed by June 2026.

Green and Digital Transition of LWB

LWB’s investment contributes to the green transition of the organisation as its targets support the mitigation and adaptation to climate change and meeting the EU’s 2030 climate targets and climate neutrality by 2050. The construction of the new reservoir directly relates to adaptation to climate change as it increases LWB’s water supply capacity in case of a climate-related risk. The adoption of smart water technologies will facilitate the improved collection, processing and visualisation of data and decision-making, thus enabling efficient monitoring and operation of the network, faster detection of leaks and consumer water conservation behaviour. The results will lead to a reduction of water losses from both leakage and wastage, and subsequent reductions in energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions resulting either from the production of desalinated water or pumping and treatment of water from existing supply sources. LWB investment also contributes to the digital transition of the organisation as it targets the adoption of innovative technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), sensors and actuators for real-time monitoring and control, communication infrastructure, the use of digital twins and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.