ANY customers who had electronic equipment damaged due to sudden power outages can apply for monetary compensation, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) said yesterday.The EAC said that a number of consumers had already complained, but in order to ask for compensation they needed to write to the EAC mentioning the following: name and account number; contact details; time and date of outage; description of equipment damaged including its brand, when it was bought and for how much, and if possible proof of purchase.All contact numbers are available at www.eac.com.cy and people can call 1800 for more information regarding outages or damage to the EAC network. ... 13 comments

THE Electricity Authority (EAC) is working round the clock to operate the units at the Vassilikos power plant that were almost destroyed in the Mari naval base blast last July.EAC Chairman Haris Thrassou said yesterday the two units which suffered major damage have a 300-MW capacity and would be ready to operate in June and July.“We expect to start operating unit 5, which has a capacity of 220-230MW and part of unit 4 which has a 70MW capacity, totalling 300MW, and we are also planning to import 120MW from overseas. We have already placed the order,” he said.With the additional units Thrassou said the EAC believed it could cover the high summer demand. “There is always a danger of a blackout but the danger is quite remote,” he said... 7 comments

THE SPEEDY restoration of power supply across the island in the wake of the Mari disaster was nothing short of miraculous, people with first-hand knowledge of the efforts said yesterday.“Superhuman efforts went into restoring electrical power,” said Sotos Savva, head of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus’ SEPAIK union which organised a presentation outlining the actions taken by the power utility on and after July 11.In the early morning hours of that day, a massive munitions blast at a naval base unleashed a powerful shockwave devastating the neighbouring power plant at Vasilikos In a flash, the island’s largest station was knocked out... 9 comments

A DELEGATION from the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) yesterday visited the Electricity Authority of Cyprus’ (EAC) power stations in Vassilikos and Moni, where they were briefed on the installation of 96 new temporary 120 MW units.CERA was also given details on the EAC’s efforts to restore the Vasilikos station, which was destroyed in the Mari blast last summer.A meeting followed with the EAC’s Energy Crisis Management Team on plans for electricity sufficiency in 2012, to ensure there are no energy-related problems when Cyprus takes over EU presidency in July.The head of CERA, George Siammas, said the clear goal was to ensure sufficient electricity production to cover the island’s needs, without having to take electricity from the occupied areas... Read on

The headquarters of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) were evacuated early yesterday morning when the fire safety system went off.People evacuated the premises at around 7:40am and stayed outside while the fire brigade investigated. They were admitted back in after around 20 minutes or so when fire services established it was a false alarm. ... 1 comment

 The headquarters of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) were evacuated early yesterday morning when the fire safety system went off.People evacuated the premises at around 7:40am and stayed outside while the fire brigade investigated. They were admitted back in after around 20 minutes or so when fire services established it was a false alarm.  ... 5 comments

 ENERGY POLICY-makers will decide in the coming days whether new costly measures are needed to better secure the electricity grid from mass blackouts, raising the prospect of further increases in electricity prices, which have already risen by a third in the last year. Speaking on radio yesterday, Electricity Authority (EAC) general manager Stelios Stylianou warned that if new measures are adopted to reduce the risk of similar blackouts like the one experienced on Wednesday, the cost will eventually have to be shouldered by the consumer.  ... 29 comments

 THE FIVE-HOUR black-out, experienced on Wednesday morning all over Cyprus, served as a reminder of the fragility of our electricity supply system. The system shut down automatically because of a fault in the electricity system in the north with which it has been connected since the Mari blast.The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) could not rule out similar power cuts in the future, although steps were being taken to reduce the probability of it happening again. Measures could be taken to reduce the probability, said the EAC general manager yesterday, but this would incur additional costs. The EAC chairman subsequently said that the additional cost would not be passed on to the consumer, but such assurances mean nothing. ... 4 comments

 A MAJOR power outage left 80 per cent of the country without electricity for five hours yesterday, leaving the police, fire service and electricity authority (EAC) scrambling to deal with the knock-on effects of the blackout.  The near shutdown of power generating units at Dhekelia in the early hours of the morning resulted in a limited supply of electricity on the grid from 4.45am until around 10am, highlighting the island’s fragile reliance on secondary units since the destruction of the Vassilikos power plant last July.  Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said police responded immediately to the blackout, sending traffic police to replace the non-operational traffic lights at main intersections across the island.  ... 11 comments

A malfunction at the Dhekelia power station in the early morning hours caused a major power failure, which affected most of the island.The Electricity company (EAC) said a unit at the Dhekelia station failed at 4.45 am triggering the collapse of the whole system. At the time, Dhekelia was supplying the whole island with power.  It is unclear what caused the initial failure.The station's director said power is gradually being restored."Power supply across the whole of Cyprus is expected to be restored in two to three hours," Andreas Polydorides said... 30 comments