WILLEMSTAD – Aqualectra is working to bring a gas turbine at the 2Bays industrial site into operation within four days in an effort to ease Curaçao’s electricity generation shortage. Until additional capacity becomes available, the utility warns that rotating power cuts may remain necessary when electricity production cannot keep pace with demand.
Aqualectra CEO Neysa Isenia and Technical Director Rudolf Garmes provided details about the emergency measure during a press conference on the problems currently affecting Curaçao’s electricity supply.
The gas turbine is located on the 2Bays site and was previously operated by Global. Aqualectra and 2Bays are now working together to prepare the installation to generate electricity again within days.
The turbine is particularly important because it could provide continuously available generating capacity, reducing Aqualectra’s current dependence on fluctuating wind-energy production.
Several of the utility’s conventional generating units are currently out of service, leaving Curaçao with significantly less dependable capacity at a time of high electricity demand.
According to Garmes, four teams from different international companies are currently on Curaçao working on repairs. Replacement parts are also being flown to the island in an effort to return the affected generating units to service as quickly as possible.
Until that happens, weather conditions will continue to play an unusually important role in determining whether Curaçao has enough electricity.
When winds are strong enough, the island’s wind farms can provide additional production and help cover demand. When wind speeds decline, however, that contribution can fall sharply, creating a shortage that Aqualectra must manage.
If available production is insufficient, the utility resorts to load shedding, temporarily disconnecting neighborhoods from the electricity grid to keep supply and demand in balance and prevent a broader system failure.
According to Aqualectra, these interruptions generally last between two and three hours.
Several neighborhoods have experienced such outages repeatedly in recent days as the utility struggles with reduced conventional generating capacity.
Aqualectra has already postponed all planned maintenance work on its electricity and water networks for this week so that its immediate attention can remain on stabilizing electricity supply and avoiding additional disruptions.
The company expects the situation to remain vulnerable until additional conventional generating capacity becomes available. Bringing the 2Bays gas turbine online could provide the first short-term relief while repairs continue on Aqualectra’s own generating units.