By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter
SCHEDULED ELECTRICITY blackouts will continue until at least mid-April. But, unscheduled outages should end soon with the resumption of two generating units.
The information was obtained yesterday, as the Government and Atlanta-based Mirant Corporation finalised an agreement for the sale of 80 per cent ownership of the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPSCO) for US$201 million. Mirant spokesmen said that the company is committed to improving JPSCo's generation capacity.
J.R. Harris, the company's vice president for the Caribbean and South America said there was another 9,000 megawatts under development. He said the company was committed to adding another 385 megawatts of generating capacity to JPSCo's current system. Barring some major catastrophe, this should eliminate the need for future load shedding.
Initially, a 25-megawatt, oil-fired steam generator will be built in time to meet the summer peak demand period. An additional 40-megawatt combustion turbine and another 40-megawatt unit will be added to the Bogue generating facility next year. The two units will be converted to combined cycle configuration in 2004. Future installations are planned for the Hunt's Bay generating facility in 2005.
JPSCo has a total capacity of 660 megawatts, but its reserve margin has been severely eroded with the addition of 120,000 customers in the last five years.
Several major units have been taken out of service since early February, forcing the company to resort to load shedding. The number two unit at Old Harbour with a 60 megawatt capacity, taken out for "scheduled maintenance" until the end of March, will be out for at least an additional 14 weeks. A damaged turbine has been identified as the reason for the delay.
In a statement yesterday the company said the unavailability of the units meant the generating system was operating at maximum available capacity of 495 MW.
"With peak demand for electricity averaging 515 MW, there is a shortfall of approximately 20 MW at the peak". The result has been scheduled load shedding between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. each day, during the peak demand period. The company cautioned that the promised return to normality in mid-April is based on the projected restoration of the number three unit.
Meanwhile the loss of additional generating capacity earlier this week resulted in unscheduled load-shedding since Monday. These outages take place during the early afternoons. The company has warned that despite its best efforts, the "risk of service interruptions resulting from the shortfall in generating capacity will remain high until at least Old Harbour unit three is put back in service".
