Over the past few years, there have been many brownouts/blackouts, indicating that our current system struggles to meet the demand for electricity supply and distribution.
There is a lack of necessary capacity as well as the foresight to anticipate future needs. Furthermore, we can also see new developments on the horizon that will add pressure to an already overloaded system. WEB Aruba NV spokesperson, Asja Dongen, explained that the distribution infrastructure falls under NV Elmar. However, as far as WEB is concerned, they have come up with the Recip 4 project to expand their capacity. But with all the forecasts of tourism growth, the increase in Airbnb, and also the rise in temperatures, there is a significant increase in the demand for electricity.
Furthermore, Dongen explained that currently, the maximum capacity of the engines is 150MW. But that will increase if there is growth in tourism and the economy. Therefore, WEB needs to anticipate this. This involves expanding sustainable energy, expanding solar energy, and wind energy. But if that also does not meet the demand, they will have to start thinking about expanding the plant. But this requires cooperation to come up with new projects and their timing. But the most important thing is investment.
INVESTMENT
It is evident that significant investment is required to revise and fortify our infrastructure for the future. The question remains whether WEB is financially stable enough to support the growing demand. According to Dongen, WEB’s strategy is to incorporate reserves for short-term and long-term investments.
