Load shedding because of faults with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s No. 11 generator was responsible for the power outages experienced by residents throughout the weekend, said Minister of Works and Utilities Bradley B. Roberts.
Minister Roberts said a press conference is expected to be held today to further explain the constant outages, along with BEC’s plans to commission its No. 12, 30 megawatt Slow Speed Diesel Generator. The $36 million generator was initially scheduled to be commissioned on Aug. 30, 2002, but was postponed to April 29. General Manager of BEC, Bradley S. Roberts, told The Guardian last week that the commissioning had to be postponed for a second time and is now scheduled for May 8.
Minister Roberts said that even though the implementation of the No. 12 generator has been postponed on two occasions for additional structural work to be carried out, the Corporation is optimistic that the generator will not encounter the same problems as the No. 11.
“This will take us into around the 8th of May, so it should be in operation around the middle of May and hopefully in time before the summer,” he said.
Mr. Roberts said that despite prior complications with the No. 12 generator’s implementation, all other work is “pretty much” completed, including all pre-commissioning specs. “It is just this modification to the exhaust manifold support system that is outstanding,” he said.
“We just have to wait and see, but coming out of the experience from No. 11, it should perform better than the No. 11 unit and we expect it to,” said Mr. Roberts, despite the No. 12 generator being purchased from the same company that manufactured the problematic No. 11 generator.
During a tour of the BEC Baillou Hills and Clifton Pier power plants in February, Mr. Roberts said the existing No. 11 generator, which contributed to a vast number of electrical shortages last summer, was due to broken piston wings and cylinder lining scuffing problems. He also said the cylinders of this machine were damaged to the extent whereby they had to be off loaded, in addition to having its liners replaced. He said the purchase of these spare parts would cost $1 million.
“We have had experts from various renowned international companies come to try and help us solve that problem. We have had some improvements, but we did not have improvements to the point where we can say that the machine is as reliable as it should be. The machine performs well, but occasionally, every 2-3 weeks or months, we would have problems,” admitted Mr. Roberts, who added that repairs to the No. 11 generator, in addition to the proposed No. 12 Slow Speed diesel generator, would cost the Corporation some $60 million.
The implementation of the No. 12 generator is expected to work in conjunction with its 30 megawatt No. 11 Slow Speed Generator that was commissioned at Clifton Pier in 1999.
Up to press time Sunday, all attempts to reach the general manager proved fruitless.
The Nassau Guardian
