Power cuts hit Cyprus in summer scorcher

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Power cuts hit Cyprus in the midst of a scorching heatwave on Wednesday as electricity workers called a strike over authorities' plans to introduce LNG to the market in the next three years.

Transmission operators were forced to cut supplies in some areas of the island to farm out 800 megawatts initially available on the grid.

Striking workers subsequently cranked up production after outages started spreading, the transmission operator said.

Power demand has exceeded 900 megawatts on a daily basis since a heatwave exceeding 40 degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit) started to bite on June 24. Cyprus's maximum generation capacity from its fuel-fired power stations is 1,100 megawatts.

Temperatures scaled to a wilting 42 degrees on Wednesday, one of the hottest days of the year.

"Supplies have been restored but earlier we had to cut power to agricultural irrigation systems and large units with air conditioning systems," said Christos Toufexis of the Transmission System Operator. "When that was not enough we had to cut power to smaller villages too," he said.

Toufexis said striking workers subsequently made available an additional 150 megawatts of power.

Although islanders are accustomed to the heat, one person died of heatstroke on Monday, and several people, including tourists, required hospital treatment on Tuesday.

A stifling heatwave killed at least 50 people in 1998.