THE OVERWHELMING demand for electricity across the island reached record levels yesterday, measuring in at 856 MW at 12.45pm.
The rising demand for electricity during this week’s heat wave resulted in an interruption in the electricity supply in the Limassol area of Ayia Phyla. According to EAC Spokesman Costas Gavrielides, the main power cut occurred at 2.20 pm.
“Within 45 minutes, half of the customers affected by the cuts were back on supply, and within two hours the power had been fully restored”, he said.
The power failure occurred when 11 cables became overloaded, a problem which Gavrielides states would probably have been avoided if the new transmission substations being planned at Omonia and Amathus had been completed.
Asked who was responsible for the delays he replied: “the EAC is not responsible for these delays. The substations are not in operation because there have been delays in securing the building permit from the town planning department and the local authorities.
“We have been prohibited from building the correct infrastructure and we simply cannot cope with the recent increase in demands for electricity. It is now up to the town planning department and the local authorities to take responsibility for the delays.”
Gavrielides went on to add that if the substations had been completed, a considerable load would have been taken off the substations at Ayia Phyla and Pyrgos. He also stressed that the fact that the third unit at the Vasiliko power plant was not yet ready for commercial use had nothing to do with the interruption to the power supply in Limassol.
When asked if a further rise in electricity demands was likely over the next few days the Director of the Cyprus Transmission System Operator of Electrical Energy, Andreas Theophanous, thought it was doubtful. “If the high temperatures continue for over three hours during the day, then we might see a rise, but I think this is unlikely. It is more probable that during July and until the second week of August the levels will either drop or remain the same because this is the peak period.
“After this it is likely that there will be a significant fall in demand because most people go away on holiday.”
