GB Power Company brings in generator units

FREEPORT - Grand Bahama Power Company has brought in 12 megawatts of rental generator units to meet the load demands over the next six months.
CEO Allan Kelley said the units will allow the company to provide more reliable service at lower fuel costs to customers here on the island.
The generator units, which are being rented from a company in Panama at a fixed cost of $1.5 million for six months, are being installed at the power plant's Peel Street site.
"This is something new at the plant that has not been done (before), Mr Kelley said on Monday.
"This is our response to the issues we had in early May when we had difficulty meeting our customers load requirement for a 38 hour period. It is something that we decided that we needed to do to provide our customers with a more reliable supply," he said.
Mr Kelley reported that of their two units - a combustion turbine unit and a steam unit - are currently out of service for repairs.
"We feel our first responsibility is to ensure that we keep the lights on. We have taken the initiative to bring 12 megawatts of rental generation onto the island...that will take us up until the October/November time period," he said.
The generator units arrived last week and six are currently in operation at the plant. They are one megawatt diesel generator units that operate on oil.
According to Kelley, the rental units will not only have the benefit of making its system more reliable than it would have been, but will provide the added benefit of making fuel costs lower.
"These will, for the most part, be taking the place of some less efficient units we have," he explained.
The combustion turbines at the plant use twice as much oil to produce one kilowatt of electricity as one of the rental units, said Mr Kelley.
"So, in addition to being more reliable, they will help to keep down our fuel surcharge," said the CEO. The fuel cost will be less as a result of these (rental units) being here."
http://www.tribune242.com/news/06292010_EP-GB-Power_news