WILLEMSTAD - Contrary to what Aqualectra CEO Darick Jonis initially stated on Thursday evening, namely that a problem at the CRU plant was the cause of one of the blackouts, the utility reports that there are now 'indications' that the producing unit at Aqualectra itself has failed.
When CRU (Curaçao Refinery Utilites, part of government nv Refineria di Kòrsou, RdK) was unable to provide more power, the security system ensured that this power plant was disconnected from the electricity grid, which ultimately led to other production units also failed and there was a blackout. However, further and in-depth research must be carried out into the cause or causes, Aqualectra reports in a press release.
When the outage occurred, leaving the entire island without electricity for the second time in less than three days, the utility company said that it immediately deployed all means to restore power to Curaçao as soon as possible. But it took almost seven hours before the last neighborhoods were reconnected.
While the electricity went out a little after 3 p.m., the last homes and businesses were supplied by 10 p.m. "Two blackouts in a week, although the causes are not the same, puts our community under great pressure," Aqualectra says it understands. The energy company says "to sympathize" and "understand" that the blackout causes a lot of nuisance. "That's why Aqualectra sincerely apologizes to the community." After that second power outage, two more occurred with the last one lasting more than 24 hours for some neighborhood.
Now that everyone has electricity again, the emphasis is on securing reliable power supply, as Aqualectra is obliged to do. The utility company always conducts a thorough investigation when a serious incident has occurred. Lessons are learned from this to prevent such a thing from repeating itself.
That will also happen again, the press statement reports. Both to what happened on December 7 and what happened several times more last week.
"Aqualectra realizes that the community is counting on a stable and sustainable power supply at a responsible price." The company and the employees will take care of water and electricity with extra commitment, that is how the communiqué ends.