Cyprus electricity demand soars as heatway continues

Demand for electricity stood at 995 Megawatts on Tuesday morning, with the total available production being 1,006 Megawatts, as Cyprus is still sweltering in a heat wave and occasional blackouts have been recorded across the island.

By midday the availability of electricity is expected to be on the borderline, according to the authorities, which warned that in case there is a larger demand, measures will have to be taken to balance production and demand.

Although temperatures have dropped since Monday, humidity still remains high and so does demand in electricity.

The authorities have said that all production units are in operation with significant drops in availability due to high temperatures, while a gas turbine of a 35 Megawatt capacity is out of order since Monday and will probably not be repaired and fully operational on Tuesday.

The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) said that electricity failures in various areas were not related to the high demand and EAC’s production capacity, and supply has been restored.

Temperatures in Cyprus have reached 43 degrees Centigrade over the past few days. The weather forecast for Tuesday predicted temperatures of 40 degrees Centigrade.