WILLEMSTAD - The extreme heat in Curaçao is causing a record demand for electricity. This is according to utility company Aqualectra in a press release. Delivery has not caused any problems for the time being. Last Monday it was more than 138 megawatts. Five megawatts more than the last record that dates back to 2016. On average, the demand for electricity was 115 megawatts in recent days.
Aqualectra says that the maximum safe demand for power is 135 megawatts, after which it may be necessary to switch between neighborhoods, so that everyone has power at least during the day. But until now that has not been necessary.
The electricity supplier has a total capacity of almost 220 megawatts per day. 151 of these come from conventional diesel machines, 22 from cleaner gas turbines and more than 46 megawatts can be produced by the wind turbines at Tera Kora and Playa Kanoa.
Due to maintenance work, the total capacity is lower. Two machines are currently out of service for an extended period of time. Aqualectra does call on the population to use electricity consciously.