After residents endured an extremely hot and disruptive weekend as a result of power outages, the Bahamas Electricity Corporation announced Tuesday that the situation is back to normal.
In a press release, BEC said that as of Monday afternoon, three malfunctioning generators had been returned to service, thus eliminating the need for recurrent load-shedding.
Thanking members of the public for their patience and tolerance, and apologising for any inconvenience caused, BEC said: "We would also like to publicly thank and commend all staff who assisted with the restoration efforts and managing of the system over the past few days, especially Power Station and Field Operations staff who worked continuously to bring the system back to normal."
At a press conference Monday, BEC officials said that, apart from an "old, aging plant," the load- shedding was due to a variety of problems, including: A perennially problematic No. 11 Slow Speed Diesel Generator that was not returned to service until late Sunday night; and a fire – attributed to a broken fuel line, on Gas Turbine No. 7, which resulted in the Corporation's 30 megawatt Combined Cycle Unit being out of service.
Over the past six months, the Utilities Minister said, the Corporation had been carrying out preventive maintenance of its Clifton Pier and Baillou Hills power stations, in preparation for the peak demand Summer period.
However, there were two major hindrances, he said.
Firstly, he announced, the 30-megawatt No. 11 Slow Speed Diesel at Clifton Pier, despite being overhauled by the manufacturer, Izar Manesses seven weeks ago, became inoperational, with major parts having to be changed over the weekend.
Secondly, Mr Roberts advised, the 30 megawatt No. 12 Slow Speed Diesel at Clifton Pier should have been in operation since Aug. 30 last year, but is now scheduled to be commissioned at the end of June.
Mr Roberts attributed the delay to "technical problems" experienced during the construction phase, and structural steel work needed at the plant in which the $36-million-dollar generator will be housed.
"The station had to be properly coated," he said, as "the initial coating on it, its primer and painting was sub-standard. This had to be remedied and took a few months to correct. In addition to this, there were some other problems while assembling the engine and during the civil works.
"We are keeping our fingers crossed, because we can't say with certainty that this will happen," he stated.
According to BEC General Manager, Bradley S Roberts, the maximum usage of electricity on New Providence is about 200 megawatts, but maximum demand this summer is expected to be approximately 203 megawatts.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
