The Heavy Ion Beam Diagnostic (HIBD) is known as unique tool for direct measurements of plasma potential in fusion devices such as tokamaks and stellarators. On small ISTTOK tokamak (R = 0.45 m, a = 0.085 m, B = 0.5 T, Ip = 4 kA, <ne> = 4 × 1018 m−3) the HIBD is operated with primary Xe+ ion beam with E = 22−24 keV of energy and a Multiple Cell Array Detector (MCAD) to measure the product of plasma neσ and its fluctuations simultaneously at a number of sample volumes along primary beam trajectory across the plasma. To upgrade the ISTTOK HIBD capabilities to measure the plasma potential and its fluctuations a multichannel 90° cylindrical electrostatic energy analyzer (CEA) operated in a beam deceleration mode has been proposed.This paper presents the first results of the plasma potential and its fluctuations measurements by the one-channel CEA prototype operated in two-times deceleration mode and in real conditions of the HIBD experiments on ISTTOK. Using an indirect CEA calibration approaches, the value of the potential Φ ∼ −350 V has been measured in the plasma core. Also, the plasma potential fluctuations Φ∼ ∼ 40 V have been observed. The obtained results demonstrate and confirm the applicability of the 90° cylindrical electrostatic energy analyzer and its operation in deceleration mode for the plasma potential and its fluctuations measurements by HIBD.