Generating units arrive in Barbados

The temporary generation units commissioned by the Barbados Light & Power Company are in Barbados.

Last month, after the island was affected by widescale power outages for two days, management at the power company said they would be urgently adding 15 megawatts of generating capacity to the electricity grid.

Although the delivery was delayed by five days because of shipping issues at other ports, the 12 Megawatts arrived in Barbados, were offloaded at the Bridgetown Port and transported to the site overnight with support from the Barbados Port Authority, the Royal Barbados Police Force and other Government agencies.

At the Garrison site, early preparation work was completed safely, the mobile crane was ready to receive all equipment and the process of erecting and commissioning has commenced.

Light & Power’s Managing Director, Roger Blackman said, “We are working with the supplier to complete the safe commissioning of the generating units as promptly as possible. Key contractor resources are already in Barbados for the preliminary work, other resources will be arriving to support the commissioning by December 20th.

“Regarding the other immediate generation project, Light & Power has signed a letter of intent to proceed with APR Energy from Jacksonville, Florida for the purchase of 12 x 1.5MW units. This is 3 MW more than the 15 MW originally indicated to provide contingency and back-up for the system. We have completed our due diligence assessment of the units and they are undergoing preparation for shipping. We are planning for these units to arrive by year-end and for commissioning in January 2020.

“Our goal is to safely and swiftly install this additional generating capacity and look to advance the renewable energy transition with ‘shovel-ready clean energy projects’ working with all key stakeholders,” Blackman added. (PR/SAT)