GAZA POWER PLANT HALTS OPERATIONS DUE TO FUEL SHORTFALL

        Gaza City, 25 Shafar 1435/28 December 2013 (MINA) – The closure means the Palestinian enclave will suffer even more power outages, Gaza Energy Authority spokesman Ahmed Abul-Amreen said in a statement.

        The Gaza Strip’s only power plant has stopped working due to a lack of fuel following Israel’s closure of the Karam Abu Salem commercial border terminal linking Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip.

         The closure means the Palestinian enclave will suffer even more power outages, Gaza Energy Authority spokesman Ahmed Abul-Amreen said in a statement.

         The power plant resumed operations in mid-December following seven weeks of closure due to shortages of the fuel needed to operate it, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

          The plant’s operations only resumed following receipt of a Qatar-funded fuel shipment.

          The plant requires some 650,000 liters of diesel fuel for its daily operations.

          On Tuesday, following the death of an Israeli man near the border with Gaza, Israel ordered the closure of Karam Abu Salem.

         Electricity outages in Gaza typically last for eight hours each day, but a fuel shortage has aggravated the situation, causing daily power outages of up to 12 hours or more.

         The 65-megawatt power plant only supplies about one third of Gaza’s total electricity needs.

         Gaza receives 120 megawatts of electricity from Israel each day and buys a further 28 megawatts from Egypt, according to the Gaza Energy Authority. (T/P012/E1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)