WILLEMSTAD - Utility company Aqualectra was unable to sell 2.8 gigawatt hours during the various blackouts that took place in 2020 and early 2021. At a value of 60 cents per kilowatt hour, this amounts to a loss of 1.6 million guilders for the utility company.
General director Darick Jonis announced this during the parliamentary meeting. Jonis once again apologized on behalf of the company to the entire Curaçao community for the blackouts.
“That is not a desirable situation and not something we are working towards. Unfortunately, we are not always in control of the situation,” said Jonis, who further explained in detail the root cause of the last four blackouts.
Jonis indicated that a malfunctioning part of the security system was the cause of the three consecutive blackouts in December and the one on January 4 this year. The faltering part triggered a chain reaction in the security system when there was no reason to do so.
The fact that things only went wrong five years after the system was put into use, is due to shifts in the load pattern of the electricity network. This had become apparent after a survey conducted by experts from Aqualectra, Wartsila, BWSC, K-Line, Schneider, Digi-Silent and DNV-GL.
It is estimated that this investigation cost between 75,000 and 100,000 guilders. According to Jonis, some technical studies still need to be carried out to determine how it can be guaranteed that the fluctuation in the voltage cannot be repeated. This may entail some fundamental changes in the operational grid, explains the Aqualectra director.
“Aqualectra has and will continue to make every effort to prevent a single blackout from taking place. But still it must be taken into account that we live on an island and the possibility remains. This will be for a different reason and not because of the problem that is now being tackled.”