Gaza Power Plant Forced to Shut Down Operations For Lack of Fuel
Marian Houk
January 20, 2008
Gaza´s power plant has shut down one of its two operating electricity-generating turbines Sunday morning, due to lack of fuel. This will drastically reduce output, down to 25 or 30 MW during the day – then there will be a complete shut down by 8 pm.
Dr. Omar Kittaneh, head of the Palestine Energy Authority in Ramallah, confirmed that by tonight, the one remaining operating turbine will be powered down, and the Gaza power plant will no longer be generating any electricity at all.
"We have asked the Israeli government to reverse its decision and to supply fuel to operate the power plant", Dr. Kittaneh said. "We have talked to the Israeli humanitarian coordination in their Ministry of Energy (National Infrastructure). We say this is totally Israel´s responsibility, and that reducing the fuel supplies until the plant had to shut down will affect not only the electrical system but the water supply, and the entire infrastructure in Gaza – everything."
Dr. Kittaneh added that "We have two days of fuel reserves, but we cannot operate on reserves -- this is very harmful to the machines".
"No", he explained, "We cannot get even one more day of operations out of those reserves. We will only operate without load to keep the machines running".
Dr. Kittaneh also said that "We have also informed the coordination mechanism in the Palestinian Authority – the Civil Administration Authority, which is part of the President´s office – and we turned the file over to them".
Maher Najjar of the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility said over the phone from Gaza on Saturday evening that the situation regarding the power plant is now "scary".
"The food is cut off, but on that we can be patient for a few days", he said, "but getting fuel to operate the power plant is vital. There will be a complete shut-down on Sunday night, and there is also a shortage of electricity coming directly from Israel as well. That means the water pumping stations and the sewage pumps will fail. There will be sewage flooding for sure. It will be a catastrophe".
Mr. Najjar said that he lives in an apartment tower behind the Ministry of Interior building that was hit by an Israeli air strike on Friday, in which one woman at a wedding party was killed and at least 60 people injured in the neighborhood. "All the buildings were damaged, and all the windows were broken. There was glass flying everywhere. My daughter and my son were both injured", he said.
Asked, on Sunday afternoon, if there were any preparations that could be made to deal with the shut-down, Mr. Najjar said "We don´t have anything to be prepared. The electricity plant is shutting down, and there is no fuel. We have no alternatives".
He said that his company (Coastal Municipalities Water Utility) had some spare fuel, and could keep some wells and sewage pumping stations operating for a couple of days, possibly until Tuesday, though others will have to be shut down. "We are updating the fuel situation now, and checking with our area managers, and will prepare a status report, which we will distribute. We´ll do this daily", Mr. Najjar added.
Gaza´s border crossings were ordered closed tight by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday night, in response to continued firing of various kinds of "projectiles" from Gaza into Israel, particularly following a big Israeli ground incursions and air attack last Tuesday, in which the son of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar was killed.
Any form of aid would only be allowed in on a case by case basis, after a personal review by Barak, Ministry officials said on Friday.
There were reports of renewed attacks on the Nahal Oz crossing, where fuel is transferred from Israel into Gaza, on Sunday morning.
Haaretz reported Sunday afternoon that "´The Nahal Oz fuel terminal remained closed Sunday because of the Palestinian rocket fire´, Defense Ministry spokesman [Shlomo] Dror said. ´But there is still fuel in Gaza, and the closure will not lead to a crisis´, he said. ´If they shut it [the Gaza power plant] down, it's not because of a fuel shortage, but because they want to create the impression of a crisis´, Dror said. ´The power plant shutdown, he said, would not be comfortable, but it's not a humanitarian crisis´."
Israeli government officials are working to keep attention focused on Sderot, as the cabinet met for its weekly meeting on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made no mention of the complete closure of crossings where vital humanitarian supplies are transferred into Gaza, despite high-level international protests.
Gisha´s Executive Director Sari Bashi reported Sunday that she wrote to the State Attorney's Office again today demanding that the restrictions on industrial fuel be lifted. "We condemn the illegal rocket attacks on civilians in southern Israel", Bashi said in a statement circulated by email. "But punishing Gaza's 1.5 million civilians does not stop the rocket fire; it only creates an impossible 'balance' of human suffering on both sides of the border".
The present electrical demand in Gaza is for 240 MW of power, according to Dr. Rafiq Maliha, project manager at the Gaza power plant, while it is able to get at most just under 200 MW, which left a daily deficit of at least 20% in a best case scenario -- until now.
110-120 MW comes from Israel, and 17 MW is supplied from Egypt to Rafah.
Bashi noted Sunday that "a technical problem" on one of the feeder lines coming from Israel has reduced Israel´s electrical supply to Gaza to just 108 MW since 14 January.
Maher Najjar said, however, that they had noticed a reduction in Israel´s electrical feed to Gaza for months now.
Gaza´s power plant generated 80 to 90 MW of electricity a day before being destroyed by an Israeli air strike at the end of June 2006 after Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured and taken back to Gaza, where he is still held. After five months work, the power plant was partially rebuilt, and provided normally about 65 MW a day.
But, starting 5 January 2008, the shortfall due to Phase I fuel cuts ordered by the Israeli military on 28 October forced a reduction in electrical output to between 40 and 55 MW per day.
The fuel cuts were devised as a way to implement the Israeli Government´s 19 September decision to label Gaza an "enemy entity" or "hostile territory". The military assured the Israeli High Court of Justice, which has been hearing a petition brought by a group of Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups to try to stop the fuel cuts and additional proposed electricity cuts, that humanitarian consequences would be avoided.
Today, with only one turbine operating since the morning, the plant will provide just 25-30 MW – barely enough to operate Gaza´s water and sewage systems.
By tonight, when the Gaza power plant shuts down completely, the daily electrical deficit will rise to over 50% of demand and vital infrastructure systems will be affected and possibly damaged.
"We are trying to extend our operation as much as possible", Dr. Maliha said by phone from Gaza on Sunday early afternoon. He said there is no word yet of any possible relief of the extremely dire situation. "What can we do as a private company?", he said. "It´s all politics now".
Defense Ministry spokesperson Dror told journalists on Friday that: "There is a government decision that there will not be a humanitarian crisis in Gaza".
Most international actors in the region believe there already is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza – including the UN´s Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes, who said at a press conference at UNHQ in New York on Friday that "Hopefully, normal crossings could resume as quickly as possible on Sunday, after the Shabbat period".
He added that "This kind of action against the people in Gaza cannot be justified, even by those rocket attacks".
Responding to questions, Holmes told the journalists that he would like to see an increase in the amount of time that the crossing points stayed open, as well as the re-opening of the main crossing point at Karni.
UN Secretary-General BAN Ki-Moon expressed particular concern, in a statement issued later on Friday through his spokesperson, about the "decision by Israel to close the crossing points in between Gaza and Israel used for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Such action cuts off the population from much-needed fuel supplies used to pump water and generate electricity to homes and hospitals".
The UN Human Rights Council´s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard, also issued a much sharper statement on Friday, saying that Israel must have foreseen the loss of life and injury to many nearby civilians when it targeted the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza City. This, and the killings of other Palestinians during the week, plus the closures, "raise very serious questions about Israel´s respect for international law and its Commitment to the peace process", Dugard said. He said it violates the strict prohibition on collective punishment contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention, and one of the basic principles of international humanitarian law: that military action must distinguish between military targets and civilian targets.
"Israel must have known about the wedding party in Gaza near to the interior ministry when it launched missiles at the ministry building", he added. "Those responsible for such cowardly action are guilty of serious war crimes and should be prosecuted and punished for their crimes. The United States and other states which attended the Annapolis conference are under both a legal and a moral obligation to compel Israel to cease its actions against Gaza and to restore confidence in the peace process, ensure respect for international law and protect civilian life".
The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva may also convene in special session this week to discuss the crisis in Gaza.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told journalists in Washington on Friday that, "on the crossing points, the Israeli Government has said that they are going to take, as one of their utmost priorities in calculating their actions, the humanitarian situation in Gaza. And they have stated that they do not want to, in any way, degrade an already very difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza. And we take them at their word and we expect them to live up to that word".
He added, "I think the Israeli Government understands pretty clearly where we stand. We have a very significant humanitarian aid program, along with many others of the international community, that is directed at Gaza and we would expect that we would be able to continue to deliver that humanitarian aid…"
Dr. Omar Kittaneh, head of the Palestine Energy Authority in Ramallah, confirmed that by tonight, the one remaining operating turbine will be powered down, and the Gaza power plant will no longer be generating any electricity at all.
"We have asked the Israeli government to reverse its decision and to supply fuel to operate the power plant", Dr. Kittaneh said. "We have talked to the Israeli humanitarian coordination in their Ministry of Energy (National Infrastructure). We say this is totally Israel´s responsibility, and that reducing the fuel supplies until the plant had to shut down will affect not only the electrical system but the water supply, and the entire infrastructure in Gaza – everything."
Dr. Kittaneh added that "We have two days of fuel reserves, but we cannot operate on reserves -- this is very harmful to the machines".
"No", he explained, "We cannot get even one more day of operations out of those reserves. We will only operate without load to keep the machines running".
Dr. Kittaneh also said that "We have also informed the coordination mechanism in the Palestinian Authority – the Civil Administration Authority, which is part of the President´s office – and we turned the file over to them".
Maher Najjar of the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility said over the phone from Gaza on Saturday evening that the situation regarding the power plant is now "scary".
"The food is cut off, but on that we can be patient for a few days", he said, "but getting fuel to operate the power plant is vital. There will be a complete shut-down on Sunday night, and there is also a shortage of electricity coming directly from Israel as well. That means the water pumping stations and the sewage pumps will fail. There will be sewage flooding for sure. It will be a catastrophe".
Mr. Najjar said that he lives in an apartment tower behind the Ministry of Interior building that was hit by an Israeli air strike on Friday, in which one woman at a wedding party was killed and at least 60 people injured in the neighborhood. "All the buildings were damaged, and all the windows were broken. There was glass flying everywhere. My daughter and my son were both injured", he said.
Asked, on Sunday afternoon, if there were any preparations that could be made to deal with the shut-down, Mr. Najjar said "We don´t have anything to be prepared. The electricity plant is shutting down, and there is no fuel. We have no alternatives".
He said that his company (Coastal Municipalities Water Utility) had some spare fuel, and could keep some wells and sewage pumping stations operating for a couple of days, possibly until Tuesday, though others will have to be shut down. "We are updating the fuel situation now, and checking with our area managers, and will prepare a status report, which we will distribute. We´ll do this daily", Mr. Najjar added.
Gaza´s border crossings were ordered closed tight by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday night, in response to continued firing of various kinds of "projectiles" from Gaza into Israel, particularly following a big Israeli ground incursions and air attack last Tuesday, in which the son of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar was killed.
Any form of aid would only be allowed in on a case by case basis, after a personal review by Barak, Ministry officials said on Friday.
There were reports of renewed attacks on the Nahal Oz crossing, where fuel is transferred from Israel into Gaza, on Sunday morning.
Haaretz reported Sunday afternoon that "´The Nahal Oz fuel terminal remained closed Sunday because of the Palestinian rocket fire´, Defense Ministry spokesman [Shlomo] Dror said. ´But there is still fuel in Gaza, and the closure will not lead to a crisis´, he said. ´If they shut it [the Gaza power plant] down, it's not because of a fuel shortage, but because they want to create the impression of a crisis´, Dror said. ´The power plant shutdown, he said, would not be comfortable, but it's not a humanitarian crisis´."
Israeli government officials are working to keep attention focused on Sderot, as the cabinet met for its weekly meeting on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made no mention of the complete closure of crossings where vital humanitarian supplies are transferred into Gaza, despite high-level international protests.
Gisha´s Executive Director Sari Bashi reported Sunday that she wrote to the State Attorney's Office again today demanding that the restrictions on industrial fuel be lifted. "We condemn the illegal rocket attacks on civilians in southern Israel", Bashi said in a statement circulated by email. "But punishing Gaza's 1.5 million civilians does not stop the rocket fire; it only creates an impossible 'balance' of human suffering on both sides of the border".
The present electrical demand in Gaza is for 240 MW of power, according to Dr. Rafiq Maliha, project manager at the Gaza power plant, while it is able to get at most just under 200 MW, which left a daily deficit of at least 20% in a best case scenario -- until now.
110-120 MW comes from Israel, and 17 MW is supplied from Egypt to Rafah.
Bashi noted Sunday that "a technical problem" on one of the feeder lines coming from Israel has reduced Israel´s electrical supply to Gaza to just 108 MW since 14 January.
Maher Najjar said, however, that they had noticed a reduction in Israel´s electrical feed to Gaza for months now.
Gaza´s power plant generated 80 to 90 MW of electricity a day before being destroyed by an Israeli air strike at the end of June 2006 after Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured and taken back to Gaza, where he is still held. After five months work, the power plant was partially rebuilt, and provided normally about 65 MW a day.
But, starting 5 January 2008, the shortfall due to Phase I fuel cuts ordered by the Israeli military on 28 October forced a reduction in electrical output to between 40 and 55 MW per day.
The fuel cuts were devised as a way to implement the Israeli Government´s 19 September decision to label Gaza an "enemy entity" or "hostile territory". The military assured the Israeli High Court of Justice, which has been hearing a petition brought by a group of Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups to try to stop the fuel cuts and additional proposed electricity cuts, that humanitarian consequences would be avoided.
Today, with only one turbine operating since the morning, the plant will provide just 25-30 MW – barely enough to operate Gaza´s water and sewage systems.
By tonight, when the Gaza power plant shuts down completely, the daily electrical deficit will rise to over 50% of demand and vital infrastructure systems will be affected and possibly damaged.
"We are trying to extend our operation as much as possible", Dr. Maliha said by phone from Gaza on Sunday early afternoon. He said there is no word yet of any possible relief of the extremely dire situation. "What can we do as a private company?", he said. "It´s all politics now".
Defense Ministry spokesperson Dror told journalists on Friday that: "There is a government decision that there will not be a humanitarian crisis in Gaza".
Most international actors in the region believe there already is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza – including the UN´s Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes, who said at a press conference at UNHQ in New York on Friday that "Hopefully, normal crossings could resume as quickly as possible on Sunday, after the Shabbat period".
He added that "This kind of action against the people in Gaza cannot be justified, even by those rocket attacks".
Responding to questions, Holmes told the journalists that he would like to see an increase in the amount of time that the crossing points stayed open, as well as the re-opening of the main crossing point at Karni.
UN Secretary-General BAN Ki-Moon expressed particular concern, in a statement issued later on Friday through his spokesperson, about the "decision by Israel to close the crossing points in between Gaza and Israel used for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Such action cuts off the population from much-needed fuel supplies used to pump water and generate electricity to homes and hospitals".
The UN Human Rights Council´s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard, also issued a much sharper statement on Friday, saying that Israel must have foreseen the loss of life and injury to many nearby civilians when it targeted the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza City. This, and the killings of other Palestinians during the week, plus the closures, "raise very serious questions about Israel´s respect for international law and its Commitment to the peace process", Dugard said. He said it violates the strict prohibition on collective punishment contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention, and one of the basic principles of international humanitarian law: that military action must distinguish between military targets and civilian targets.
"Israel must have known about the wedding party in Gaza near to the interior ministry when it launched missiles at the ministry building", he added. "Those responsible for such cowardly action are guilty of serious war crimes and should be prosecuted and punished for their crimes. The United States and other states which attended the Annapolis conference are under both a legal and a moral obligation to compel Israel to cease its actions against Gaza and to restore confidence in the peace process, ensure respect for international law and protect civilian life".
The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva may also convene in special session this week to discuss the crisis in Gaza.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told journalists in Washington on Friday that, "on the crossing points, the Israeli Government has said that they are going to take, as one of their utmost priorities in calculating their actions, the humanitarian situation in Gaza. And they have stated that they do not want to, in any way, degrade an already very difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza. And we take them at their word and we expect them to live up to that word".
He added, "I think the Israeli Government understands pretty clearly where we stand. We have a very significant humanitarian aid program, along with many others of the international community, that is directed at Gaza and we would expect that we would be able to continue to deliver that humanitarian aid…"
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