EAC gets budget to pay for temporary power

 

THE HOUSE plenum today unanimously approved the €24.5 million supplementary fund to the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) pledged by the state to cover the set-up and rental cost of mobile generators at Vassilikos.

The €24.5 million is part of a Cabinet pledge to give the EAC €49 million to cover rental costs for a year.

The first half of the bundle will go towards covering the costs between September this year and February next year.

The government hopes to recover the money from the European Union Solidarity Fund as assistance following the July 11 blast at Mari which incapacitated Vassilikos power station.

The blast knocked out half of the island’s energy supply and forced the EAC to rely on more expensive and less efficient plants at Moni and Dhekelia.

The mobile generators installed at the site of Vassilikos are also more expensive to run.

Rising operating and fuel costs have also been partially covered by consumers after the Energy regulator (CERA) approved in September a 6.96 per cent rise in electricity bills.

The EAC has recently started collecting the higher electricity bills.

The EAC has also secured partial government guarantee of a €50 million loan to help with its cash flow. The state has guaranteed 80 per cent of the loan.

As a result of the blast, the EAC has been relying on overdrafts to meet their overheads.