EAC to continue supplying north till February 20

THE EAC said yesterday it would is to continue supplying the occupied areas with electricity until February 20, after a blast knocked out the main power station in the north earlier this month.

Yesterday the authority issued its bill for the first 10 days of supply, amounting to £800,000. The Turkish Cypriots have been given 30 days to pay, as is normal practice with all customers.

The announcement came after a meeting at EAC headquarters yesterday with the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot electricity authorities, who signed the contract in his personal capacity as a citizen of the Republic.

EAC Head Charilaos Stavrakis told a parliamentary committee he was confident the payments would be made properly. “Otherwise the electricity will stop”, he noted.
Stavrakis said the EAC had informed the Turkish Cypriot authorities that at times, due to weather conditions, the provision of electricity may be reduced.

He also made it clear that there was no chance of any further provision come May, when demand for electricity in the free areas would rise. The EAC is currently supplying spare capacity, and Stavrakis admitted the danger of a blackout had increased in Nicosia, Larnaca and the free Famagusta area as a result of the supply of power to the north.

The Turkish Cypriots owe the EAC nearly £150 million for power supplied since 1974.

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