Cyprus to get electricity from Turkish side after power black-out

 * Chamber president closes deal for 80MW *

The Electricity Authority of Cyprus will receive some 80MW of power from the Turkish occupied north, in a deal concluded by the president of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry to help restore generation after the island’s main power station was knocked out in an arms blast on Monday.
The government spokesman said that Chamber president Manthos Mavrommatis entered into negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot power company, which had initially offered 110 MW, an amount that could not be linked into the EAC network.
Israel has already shipped ten mobile units with an output capacity of 8 MW and the Greek state-owned Public Power Corporation (PPC/DEH) is expected to send units with a capability of generating as much as 150 MW.
Engineers from General Electric are expected on the island on Monday to inspect the damaged gas and steam turbine units at Vassiliko power station, one of which was only installed some 14 months ago.
An arms cache of 98 containers full of munitions heading from Iran to Syria had been confiscated in accordance to a United Nations sanctions programme in 2009. But the Cyprus authorities failed to store the shipment adequately and exposed it to scorching heat and sun in a naval base next to Vassiliko. The armaments blew up in a 1.5 megaton blast killing 13 seamen and fire fighters, knocking out the power station and 53% of the island’s electricity supply.
The government introduced power rationing throughout the week, disrupting businesses, with the total cost of the disaster to the economy, according to Financial Mirror estimates, put at about 1 bln euros.
Only the vital tourist sector received uninterrupted power in order to ensure the viability fo the island’s main revenue earner.