Electricity outages leave Mukalla in the dark

Mukalla - Thousands of residents in the city of Mukalla has spent   uncomfortable days since the Al-Rayan Power station come in a halt on Sunday following a huge fire that ravaged the city’s main power plant. The temperature in Mukalla soars above  45° Celsius.

Thousands of residents in the city of Mukalla have had a tough time dealing with the consequences of electrical shortages   since the Al-Rayan Power station ceased operation last Sunday following a fire that ravaged the city’s main power plant. The temperature in Mukalla often soars above  45° Celsius.
 
Sweltering houses forced families to sleep on the coasts running from the intense weather indoors. Others preferred to sleep in their cars switching on the air conditioning or laying their beds on sidewalks.              
 
Hotels are overcrowded with well-off locals and visitors who were able to find some refuge inside and slumber peacefully without interruption from the power outages. For those who have houses outside the city, they were forced to pack their bags and leave their cities temporarily until the problem with the electricity is back under control. Students were unable to review their lessons due to poor lighting and overwhelming heat. Anwar Bakhadhar, a college student, complained that he couldn’t sleep or study due to hot and humid weather and mosquitoes “Following the electricity cut, there was no cold water, no water for washing and an influx of mosquitoes that have disrupted our studies. I spend most of my time looking for light and comfortable places to work. I’m exhausted and I expect poor results this semester.”
 
Power cuts are costing businesses millions of Rials. Internet cafés, supermarkets and other shops that depend on electricity have closed and are suffering. The writer of this story spent hours trying to send the story on time.
 
The new electricity tariff added greater difficulty making the people wonder about the timing of the decision with the electricity crisis in Mukalla. People were surprised as they saw their bills double «How can they give us such outrageous bills while there is no electricity. They should try and understand our situation» one man said angrily.
 
 Last Monday, the governor of Hadramout  Salim  al-Khunbishi was quoted saying that urgent  60 watt power for Mukalla would be provided within two days. Mr.Abdul Kadir Basala’a,general manager of Electricity Corporation office in Hadramout, told the Observer that the existing power in Al-Arayan Plant is 10MW.
 
The British generator rental company ,Aggerko, started on Wednesday providing the city with an emergency 10MWV based on a contract with the ministry of electricity until the damaged power plant is maintained.
 
On Sunday, July 4, the fire erupted at 2:30am in one of the generators and spread all over the power plant. The Plant was badly damaged     and firemen had to work for two hours to put off the blaze.

The battered power station used to produce approximately 45MW with shortage of 15MW as the summer demand reached its peak.
 
According to Basala’a,the deficit in the morning is up to 32% from the required power and in the evening the deficit is up to 53% as the Al-Rayan Power is a central  Station.  “The cause of the fire hasn’t been indentified yet and the investigation is still being worked through to find out the main reason behind the fire.” he said.

The cut period was a blessing in disguise for the electric generator traders. People stood in queues outside the stores to buy   generators.”They doubled the prices of the generators. The sellers don’t allow us to bargain. Even low quality generators were sold for high prices.” a bus driver told Yemen Observer.
 
The two main oil companies in Hadramout contributed to the electricity relief. Canadian Nexen oil company sent on Wednesday a mega generator to Ibn Cina Hospitals  and two smaller generators to generate  water wells in Mukalla.
 
TOTAL oil company also assisted with a 4.5MW generator handed over to Mr. Mr.Abdul Kadir Basala’a.
 
Minister of Electricity,Awadh Al-Sugatri and the secretary general of the local council,Mr.Khalid Al-Daini, inspected  the damaged plant and saw the ongoing efforts to restore electricity. The minster was told that   used generators were reconditioned and would  produce 12MW in a little while and the engineers are working hard to renovated the rest of the  generators that were destroyed by the fire.
 
Mr. Al-Sugatri visited Hadramout Investment Power(HIP) which would sell 25MW in its first phase  to the ministry of electricity and another 25MW in future according to Mr.Omer Bajaresh,CEO of HIP.
 
Commenting on the widespread resentment, Mr.Salem Al-Khabbshi said that technical teams are currently working on rotation to maintain the generators.”We will bring into account any person who was involved in the fire and investigations are underway to determine the reason behind the fire.”

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