Uncertainty with natural gas arrival at EcoEléctrica plant

Coordinator Environmental Electricity I have no word this afternoon on whether it will finally get natural gas tomorrow, Sunday.

“Currently, we have not received a delivery date Electricity Authority (AEE), responsible for supply of natural gas. Once fuel is received at our terminal, it can be unloaded and used immediately if it is in our natural gas storage tank,” the company said in a written statement.

PREPA, faced with this media’s request for reaction, did not provide details on the steps taken to obtain the fuel from the plant located in Penulas.

“When the barge arrives, we will let you know,” said a spokesperson for the public corporation.

Friday, a spokeswoman said LUMA Energy, Daniel HernandezEcoEléctrica is expected to receive natural gas supplies on Sunday, which will allow it to normalize its power generation operations.

“It’s a project with a positive scenario. The less favorable scenario is that the ship doesn’t arrive and at least one (of the units) can be used with diesel to mitigate the situation,” Hernandez said on Friday, who was not available for an interview today.

Since yesterday, EcoEléctrica has been operating one of its units – a combustion turbine – with diesel, after a series of tests.

“The other combustion turbine has to go through a testing process before running on diesel. The capacity of the diesel-powered units has not been reduced,” EcoEléctrica assured.

Between its three units, including a steam plant, EcoEléctrica has an installed capacity of 530 megawatts (MW). Today, according to the AEE portal, the cogenerator produces about 400 MW, which is almost one-fifth of the demand in the system.

EcoEléctrica has been unable to receive natural gas supplies since its terminal was damaged by Cyclone Fiona 27 days ago. Although the terminal was repaired a few days ago, no barge was available to deliver natural gas till today.

Concerns about EcoEléctrica’s capacity are currently being raised due to the weak state of PREPA’s generation fleet, as Unit 5 in Costa Sur will be out of service for at least a week, and the other plants in Palo Seco, San Juan and Central Aguirre will take even longer to reconnect. According to MW data, the system currently has a capacity of 3,056 MW, and the peak demand so far in October was 2,620 MW, so the reserve is not yet at optimal levels and could be compromised if any units in operation go. No service.

If demand exceeds generation, as happened on Thursday, it is necessary to implement a selective blackout scheme.

Fiona suffers the consequences

Although today marks four weeks since Fiona passed, residents in the south are still experiencing devastation, especially due to lack of electricity service and road closures.

“We have sectors without electricity, especially in the northern countryside, sectors far from the city center, often affected by power poles, transformers and (power) lines,” said Ponce Mayor Luis Irizarry Babón. About 20,000 people were affected.

Meanwhile, in Penulas, 25% of the city still needs to get energy, its mayor said. Gregory Gonzalez Souchet, states that the problem includes the communities of Barreal, Las Jaguas, Quebrada Ceiba and Macaná. “We have two contracted brigades doing cleaning work and helping with main roads and power lines,” he said, adding that many schools were partially functional due to power problems.

For his part, Hormicrous Mayor, Peter John GarciaIn addition to pockets without electricity, he is working on a federal program to relocate 15 families affected by flooding in the San Jose community in the Lavatero neighborhood.