(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The nearly ninety minutes that power was out in large parts of the country on Thursday evening could soon yield more than US$ 20 million in damage. According to Marcel Eindhoven, technical director of the Energy Company Suriname (EBS), the possible damage caused by a total blackout is calculated according to a basic formula: “US$ 100 kilowatt hour. We supply 160 megawatts.
That must be multiplied by one thousand, and then by one hundred to calculate the damage per hour”. The EBS’s largest electricity network, the 161,000 KvK transmission line, was hit by lightning around seven o’clock yesterday evening. Due to this, the power supply from the Reservoir to the districts of Para, Wanica, Saramacca, Commewijne and to the capital Paramaribo was cut off for about one and a half hours. Power was restored for some 95% by nine o’clock and possible damage was being repaired.
