#Nassau, June 23, 2019 – Bahamas – Bahamas Power and Light Company Limited
(BPL) confirmed that the temporary failure of two of its generating assets over the weekend
exacerbated the load shedding underway on New Providence, extending the times
and multiplying the number of outages experienced across the island. One of the
assets that failed was
returned to service by Sunday afternoon, with work
proceeding to bring the other asset back online as quickly as possible.
On Friday, BPL reiterated that Aggreko
rental units are due in at the Blue Hills Power Station by June 30, 2019, and
that the addition of these rental units will
alleviate the demand challenges BPL is facing.
Load shedding in New Providence began on
Wednesday, June 19, as a result of
problems experienced with its generating assets at the Blue Hills Power
Station. Simultaneously, and as a result
of increasing temperatures, customer demand on the
network in New Providence spiked over the preceding days. The loss of generation coupled with the
increase in demand resulted in a shortfall of generation and the need for load shedding.
BPL teams at
the Blue Hills Station are working feverishly to
resolve the concern with the generators and return them to service as soon as
possible to offset in the short term the current shortfall. Further, BPL wishes
to advise that the installation of additional rental generation at the Blue Hills Station is nearing completion. It is expected that this additional power
will be available by the week ending June 30, 2019. This additional rental will bolster BPL’s
available generation and put us in a
better position to meet the increasing
customer demand during this summer period.”
The generation shortfall plus the spike
in demand mean that BPL expects to be load shedding almost daily, in two hour
rotations, until the rental generators are installed and the gen sets that are
out of commission for repair or maintenance are
brought back into service.
Load
Shedding
BPL generates, transports and distributes electricity to 113,000
customers around the country, according to the most
recent monthly report. While BPL is mandated to ensure that at all times there is sufficient supply to meet
demand, electricity demand is not consistent because of peak periods when
demand is higher and continuous growth in the number of customers requiring
electricity services. In addition to higher than
normal peak demand, power system stress can be induced by old, nearly obsolete
transmission and distribution (T&D) equipment, insufficient generation
capacity and the inability of our power system to respond adequately to
external shocks.
Load shedding is
done as a controlled option to respond to unplanned events to protect the
electricity power system from a total blackout.
Conservation
BPL has launched a campaign calling on
its customers to practice conservation and energy efficiency, with the goal of reducing demand on the system overall. BPL notes, “The two
main reasons people conserve energy are to gain more control over their energy
bill and reduce the demand on the earth’s natural resources.”
There are dozens of steps consumers can
take to reduce the amount of electricity they use,
many being specific to their properties and their unique circumstances. BPL
asserts that it can help consumers find and exploit those opportunities.
New
Generation
Meanwhile, BPL moved the sixth of its seven new Wartsila engines from Arawak Cay to site at Clifton Pier overnight. This means the process of installing the new, permanent generation assets at Clifton Pier remains on schedule. The final engine is set to be moved on Wednesday evening. This new permanent generation will be the foundation of a new 132 megawatt power station housed at Station A, and will do much to improve generation availability and reliability on New Providence. These units will also be more cost effective to run, operate and maintain. It is expected that these units will be online in the fall.
Release: BPL