Despite promises that rolling blackouts on New Providence had come to an end weeks ago, the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) once again conducted an island-wide load shedding exercise yesterday. The generation shortfall was due to recent challenges with two of its generator units, said the corporation in a statement.
BEC said with the two units out of service, it expected that some customers would experience disruptions in supply yesterday. "In order to minimize the duration of the disruption to its customers, BEC has adopted a rotating outage schedule," said BEC. Last month, Minister for the Environment Dr. Earl Deveaux, with oversight for BEC, said that load shedding should have ended by July 20.
However, yesterday the corporation said that customers in the following areas may have had their supply interrupted sometime before 6 p.m. yesterday: Sea Breeze, Imperial Park, Stapledon, Thompson Boulevard, Oakes Field, Mount Royal Avenue Blue Hill Road, Malcom Road, Sunshine Park, Seven Hills, Nassau Village, Soldier Road, Bernard Road, Adderley Street, Blair, Blair Addition, Fox Hill Road, Prince Charles, Winton, Twynam, Eastwood, Quail Roost Ridge, Sapphire Ridge, Nassau East, Sunset Ridge, Plantol Street, East Street, Wulff Road and Blue Hill Estates and Blue Hill Heights.
BEC also said another rotation of blackouts was planned between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. yesterday.
Lyford Cay, Mount Pleasant, Coral Harbour, Carmichael Road, Skyline Drive, Lake Cunningham, West Bay Street, Kemp Road, Palmdale, Mackey Street, East Bay Street, Shirley Street, Collins Avenue (including side streets), Tyler Street, Boyd Road, Deans Lane, Augusta Street, Meeting Street, Blue Hill Road North, Gladstone Road, Fire Trail Road, and Harold Road were expected to be impacted.
BEC said it expected electricity supply to be restored to all customers by 11 p.m. yesterday.
The corporation said it expected to have the two failing generator units repaired sometime today.
"BEC continues to advise of the present state of several of its generator units which are in need of overdue repairs. BEC continues to carry out repairs as expeditiously as possible so that these units are returned to service," said BEC.
"The corporation is making every effort to minimize the severity of its generation challenges on its customers. BEC expects the 20 megawatt of standby generator units to be operable by mid- August. Similarly, the corporation continues to refer to its generation assistance plan (GAP) to limit the number of customers impacted during periods of shortfall," noted the press statement.
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