€6,250 an hour for back-up power

THE ELECTRICITY Authority of Cyprus (EAC) paid €7.5 million for internal combustion units it rented earlier this summer to enhance the production of power.

The rental of the 50MW internal combustion units cost €7.5 million for a period of 4 months, which translates to €6,250 per hour or €104 per minute. Their maintenance costs are the responsibility of the company from which they were rented. The fuel is paid by the EAC.

George Petousis, the Executive Manager of the EAC Customer Services Department, told the Cyprus Mail, “The EAC signed a contract with the company that won the tender .The units are rented to be used as a back-up system in the event of a black-out.” Only one company applied for the tender.

He said that after the summer of 2007, the EAC had had no other choice but to rush to increase power production in minimum time, so that there would be no problems in meeting demand for electricity in the summer of 2008

The second-hand units for use in the summer of 2008 will be removed in a few days. The cost of buying new ones will amount to €60-63 million, with maintenance.

The long delay in starting the construction of the fourth unit (the tenders procedure has been twice cancelled), in conjunction with delays in the arrival of natural gas, have left Cyprus with low power production, while the demand has increased significantly each year.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.