Absence of Egypt gas costs NIS 234M
Egypt resumes limited gas supply to Israel, but Israel Electric Corp. loses some NIS 6 million a day due to use of coal, diesel oil, fuel oil in order to continue meeting demands
Before the Egyptian gas supply was halted in early February, the Israel Electric Corp. produced some 45% of its electricity with natural gas, with Yam Tatis supplying 60% of the gas and Egyptian company EMG supplying 40%.
A partial supply of Egyptian gas was resumed Wednesday, for the first time since a terror attack on an EMG pipeline in northern Sinai on February 5, after which the gas supply to Israel was halted.
It is unclear when the flow will be brought up to full supply, but sources in the energy sector believe this will happen within a few days. A first attempt to flow the gas from northern Sinai to Ashkelon on Monday was stopped due to a leak in one of the pipes.
The gas currently supplied is not of the best quality and is being transferred using low pressure in a bid to examine the entire transmission system. The gas' low quality may harm the pipes or lead to a fire in the Electric Corp's power station if it continues for long.
Until the gas is brought up to full supply of 2.1 billion cubic meters a year – according to the contract between the Israel Electric Corp. and EMG – the Electric Corp. will continue using more Israeli gas and coal than it did before the gas supply was halted.
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
