September 1 2008

Comoros: Comores/pénuries électricité et carburant : les entreprises perdent 60

Shortages of fuel and electricity recurrent in recent months in the Comoros have been losing local businesses up to 60 million euros, according to the main employers' organisation of the archipelago.

"The losses are estimated between 20 and 30 billion Comorian francs (between 40.6 and 60.9 million euros)" since June, said this weekend to AFP Chamsoudine Ahmed, president of Employers Organization of the Comoros (Opaco), based on statistics of the Central Bank of Comoros.

Dominican Republic: Dominican drivers, homemakers again face propane gas shortage

As of today Monday the country will face a new round of shortages of propane gas (GLP), which began Saturday in the stations in the National District, and there’s concern that hundreds of public passenger vehicles that use it as fuel won’t be able to provide service.

On Sunday several GLP stations in the Capital were out of service and didn’t know when they would get resupplied with the fuel.

India: Penalty fails to curb power overdrawal

Amid a surge in short-term power costs triggered by acute shortages, State Electricity Boards (SEBs) are increasingly opting to overdraw from the grid and shell out the Rs 10 per unit maximum penalty, instead of sourcing power from more expensive liquid fuel stations.

While this trend is pushing the grid to the brink of a collapse, with frequency dipping way past the danger mark on numerous occasions over the past couple of days, rampant overdrawal by States comes even as nearly 3,000 MW of naphtha and diesel-based capacities lie idle across the country.

Iran: Sanctions not cause of blackouts: energy minister

The sanctions imposed on Iran for the nuclear program are not the reason behind the country's electricity shortage, Minister of Energy Parviz Fattah said.

Lebanon: Frustrations mount in Sidon as frequent power cuts keep city in dark

Frustrations are growing in Sidon as a result of the country's ongoing electricity crisis, which has forced residents of the southern coastal city and other outlying areas to endure extensive power cuts each day. Lebanon suffers daily power cuts, including in the capital Beirut where many businesses and apartment blocks use generators to tide them over during lengthy blackouts. The situation is even worse in areas outside the capital, with some areas experiencing blackouts for more than 12 hours a day.

Nigeria: Power Shortage Bane Of Kano Industries

Stark shortage of power supply, smuggling and unhealthy competition with imported goods have been identified as causes of the starvation of once vibrant manufacturing industries in Kano State.