WILLEMSTAD – Aqualectra will begin controlled power interruptions Tuesday morning as Curaçao once again faces a serious shortage of available electricity generation capacity. The utility warns that some neighborhoods could lose power more than once if conditions do not improve.
According to Aqualectra, the island's electricity situation is currently “very delicate” because insufficient conventional generation capacity is available. The problem has been compounded by a sharp decline in wind speeds overnight, significantly reducing electricity production from Curaçao's wind turbines.
The low wind production has also affected Aqualectra's battery storage system. After providing electricity during the night, the batteries have not had sufficient opportunity to recharge because wind generation remains low.
As a result, Aqualectra says it has no choice but to begin its load-shedding schedule in the morning to keep electricity supply and demand in balance.
Some neighborhoods could be affected twice
If conditions remain unchanged, some customers could experience more than one interruption during Tuesday's load-shedding operation.
Aqualectra says each individual interruption should last no longer than three hours. Electricity should therefore be restored within three hours after a neighborhood is disconnected.
The neighborhoods that could lose electricity include Julianadorp, Groot Piscadera, Juan Domingo, De Savaan, Cas Cora, Semikok, Seru Lora, Sta. Rosa Barika, North Sta. Rosa, Abrahamsz and Francia.
Parts of Sta. Rosa, Emmastad and Biesheuvel could also be affected.
Aqualectra says it will publish subsequent groups of neighborhoods through its Facebook page as the load-shedding schedule progresses.
Latest in series of capacity problems
Tuesday's warning comes only days after Aqualectra was forced to interrupt electricity supplies across several parts of Curaçao on Saturday because of insufficient available generation capacity and declining wind production.
The utility recently explained that four conventional generating units are currently out of service because of technical failures. With those units unavailable, conventional generation capacity has fallen to approximately 100 megawatts at a time when demand during particularly hot days can reach as high as 140 MW.
That has made Curaçao unusually dependent on wind generation to close the gap.
Aqualectra has approximately 70 MW of installed wind capacity, but actual production can fluctuate sharply depending on weather conditions. The company's battery system can temporarily compensate for falling wind generation, but its stored energy is limited and must subsequently be replenished.
The combination of unavailable generating units, weak winds and batteries that have not been able to recharge has now again forced Aqualectra to deliberately disconnect sections of the electricity network to prevent a larger system failure.
The utility is urging customers to continue monitoring its updates as conditions can change depending on electricity demand, wind production and available generation capacity.