Issues with BVIEC generators blamed for recent power outages & load shedding
Those issues are partially the reasons the territory has been experiencing power outages and load shedding.
“Another smaller generating set has been un-operational and awaiting assembly. Complicating matters even further is the fact that power consumption in the Territory is currently at the highest levels that it has ever been.
“Coping with the situation has forced the corporation and some of our public partners, to take steps to manage the load on the system so that we can maintain general power to the Territory,”Dr Smith explained in a Government Information Services (GIS) press release today, July 25, 2023.
Water plant @ Paraquita Bay taken offline periodically
The General Manager said the Seven Seas desalination plant at Paraquita Bay consumes 4 Megawatts of energy when operating at full capacity and that in order to regulate the load on the power system, it has become necessary for the desalination plant to be taken offline for certain periods. He said during these times, water production is interrupted and its supply to customers is impacted.
“We appreciate that persons would have endured frustration due to the present situation, but we apologise and we are asking the public to be patient with us as we carry out the necessary work to restore the power plant to its optimal load carrying capacity,” he said.
Issues ‘highest priority’for Gov’t & BVIEC- Hon Rymer
Meanwhile, Minister for Communications and Works Honourable Kye M. Rymer (R5) said BVIEC is working assiduously to restore its power-generating capacity to optimum levels, to adequately meet the needs of the Territory.
Honourable Rymer gave the assurance that the technical and operational issues that are affecting the reliability of the electrical power supply, and which are also affecting the water supply, are receiving the highest priority attention from the Government and the corporation.
“Providing reliable and dependable utilities to the Territory is paramount to everyone. We appreciate that the current issues are inconveniencing the public. This includes interruption of the water supply. For this, we apologise. We are working tirelessly to resolve the issues, but we need the public to bear with us while the solution is put in place,” Hon Rymer commented in the same GIS press release.
22 Responses to “Issues with BVIEC generators blamed for recent power outages & load shedding”
After the fact response to the complaints on a good day most times no response explanations andl no apologies and no advance notice of pendjng or potential inconvenience . Government staff with few exceptions is like a herd of undisciplined wildlife.
1. Does the BVIEC has a high/low limit inventory on critical parts, given that the BVI is a remove locale with little to no Just in Time (JIT) delivery capability/capacity?
2. Are governors, a critical part, on the high/low inventory?
3. What are the design lifecycles on these engines and how long has BVIEC had them?
4. What percentage of the design lifecycle are engine schedule for replacement or major overhaul?
5. Were the units acquired new or used?
6. What are the runtime schedule, if any , on the engines?
7. Does the BVIEC have trained and certified personnel to perform major overhaul/ repair or that service has to outsource from overseas?
8. Does the BVIEC have a structured planned preventative maintenance program?
Sad that I have to explain a common sense video game mechanic to a real world situation.
And I also blame TCP. Busy looking to put up buildings with no parking and allowing all kind of nonsense before someone asks a question about the electrical load.
But I'm sure all of you top performers have generators at home so aint your priority.