CAY BAY / PHILIPSBURG— Power production and office operations were disrupted on Wednesday as a result of a mechanical failure at the power plant and an IT system failure. The incidents were unrelated.
The GEBE Power Plant experienced some mechanical problems with its production diesel generator DG #9 resulting in load shedding. DG#9 was stopped in order for the GEBE power plant technicians to perform some emergency repairs. As a consequence, the distribution grid experienced a shortage of approximately 5 MW resulting in load shedding. The technicians at the power plant were able to minimize the effect of the outage by bringing a smaller engine, DG#3, that was being repaired online thereby reducing the number of areas that would have been affected. Several areas experienced power outages that lasted just over an hour. Power was expected to be restored by 17:00.
GEBE is already operating on a tight electricity production with just enough capacity to meet the current demand. Any mechanical problems may lead to short power interruptions. GEBE power plant is already being expanded with the two new 11.3 MW generators that arrived on the island last month. The engines are currently being installed and are scheduled to be commissioned by the end of December 2009. The addition of the 22.6 MW will stabilize the generation capacity.
GEBE customers were also not able to pay their bills due to an IT systems failure. Cashiers and customer service personnel were not able to access the administrative system. Despite the valiant efforts by the ICT staff to get the system back up and running, the customer service desks remained closed to the general public so the necessary repairs could be made to the system. GEBE expects to resume regular office operations by tomorrow.
GEBE apologizes to its customers for the interruptions in services and the inconvenience caused.
