Israel Corporation's (TASE: ILCO) power station at Mishor Rotem has been shut down since Friday following a string of three breakdowns in the past few weeks. Although on Saturday, Israel Corp. said that the power station would come back on line tonight, today it announced that the shutdown continued due to calibrations.
After two of the three breakdowns at the Mishor Rotem Power Station, Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) had to initiate rolling blackouts to reduce loads until backup units came online.
On Saturday, Israel Corp. said, "Damage occurred to one of the small motors at OPC Rotem due to a breakdown in maintenance work by IEC on the line. In view of the major breakdowns at IEC in recent weeks, OPC decided to utilize the shutdown to calibrate the control systems to prevent further shutdowns as the result of additional breakdowns at one or more of IEC's power stations, as has happened twice in the past two weeks."
The OPC Mishor Rotem Power Station produces 440 megawatts of electricity, 5% of Israel's electricity production. It is Israel's first independent power producer since being hooked up to the national grid in June. At the end of the year, it will be joined by the second independent power producer, Dorad Energy Ltd., which will have double Mishor Rotem's production capacity.
In October, the media reported that Israel Corp. controlling shareholder Idan Ofer was seeking to sell the company's 80% stake in OPC because of cash flow problems at other Israel Corp. subsidiaries.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 3, 2013
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