There have been a lot of power issues recently, while sometimes it is brief, other times it lasts for hours. This variety in duration is caused by the multiple factors at play. On Monday, once again, San Nicolas and Savaneta were without electricity, where NV Elmar was facing distribution problems in these areas.
WEB Aruba NV spokesperson, Asja Dongen, explained that the issue was due to a leak in the gas turbine, in an interview with our colleague Marko Espinoza. This leak is what caused the need to cut off the power supply. She indicated that normally the Recip engines are fully online, but the gas turbine always serves as a backup. However, due to the delicate power situation in recent days and because two of the engines were out of service due to maintenance, WEB NV could simply not meet the demand.
Another factor that played a role in this situation was the high temperature and lack of wind, which also affected the wind-powered energy that is a part of the total energy mix, to drop.
A gas turbine leak is something that cannot be predicted. When it happened, the gas turbine had to be shut down in compliance with the safety protocol, causing the interruption.
BACKUP PLAN
Oftentimes, the community believes that WEB NV. is solely to blame for the failures. According to a spokesperson for WEB NV, they have a strategic maintenance plan. Each plant team has its maintenance plan. Dongen indicated that it should be realized that the cause is not always the same. Sometimes it’s in the plant, other times it’s a car hitting a streetlight, sometimes the fault is in ELMAR’s distribution system, so each time it’s a different cause. WEB pays attention to this and acknowledges its vital role in Aruba’s economy. It is a role they take responsibility for.
A few weeks ago, there was also a fire at WEB. Dongen said that the high power demand is likely caused by excessive heat. The demand for electricity, due to the increased temperature, increased by 25MW compared to last year, which is significant. WEB is doing its best to continue to meet the demand, but the different factors play a role, and the companies have to pay attention to how to manage this.
