The Tribune

By Ricardo Wells

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light has asked the Arizona-based company that produces the submersible pumps being utilised in its Abaco repairs for help with installation amid that island’s latest power crisis.

Works Minister Desmond Bannister, who announced the move just before he entered yesterday morning’s Cabinet meeting, said the decision had to be made as local officials have been unable to get one of the pumps to work.

Mr Bannister said once that was done, officials would look to determine if several non-submersible pumps being kept on hand in New Providence can be “reconditioned” in a way in which they could be utilised in Abaco.

According to Mr Bannister, these pumps in both incarnations are used in the cooling systems of the generators installed in Abaco.

Last week, BPL reported that there was a total system shutdown on Abaco caused by “a sudden and unexpected fault” occurring with the cooling system at the Wilson City power station. 

The island then had to endure a ‘load shedding’ schedule for the next three days, with large sections of Abaco having to go without power for hours at a time.

Mr Bannister said the Minnis administration, shortly after it took office, was told that the pumps needed to be examined and, if necessary, repaired. 

Subsequently, Mr Bannister said the decision was made to install new pumps.

He said: “We ordered replacement pumps, those pumps take anywhere from 10 to 25 weeks to be built then they are shipped to the Bahamas. So, one of them was on its way to the Bahamas when the pumps that were there gave out.

“That is a huge inconvenience that we greatly apologise for. When the pumps came in, they took the old pumps up and put  (the new pumps) in. (But) they experienced a challenge with respect to the power line that came into the pumps that either was cut or had some other problems with it.”

Mr Bannister continued: “What BPL is trying to do now is to, first of all, they are flying in some of the experts from the place in Arizona where the pumps are made because one of the pumps is still not working.”

“So Abaco is still fragile,” he said.

“Secondly, we are looking at some pumps we have in New Providence, which are not submersible pumps, we want to see whether we can take those pumps and get them reconditioned in a way that we can utilise them in Abaco.

“But those are not submersible pumps, they are above ground pumps and these pumps are critical for the cooling system in the generators.”

Mr Bannister insisted that once the repairs are carried out, Abaco’s electricity supply should return to optimum levels.

He said: “One of the things about Abaco is that at its height, Abaco only uses 26 megawatts of power. We have the ability in Abaco to generate 50 megawatts of power from Wilson City.”

Mr Bannister added: “We have the ability to generate another eight megawatts in Marsh Harbour. So we have the ability to generate twice the power they need, but Abaco has transmission and distribution issues.

“So we are actively looking at those issues to try and solve them for the people in Abaco so that they do not have the problems that they have had in the past.”

Addressing the overall cultural transformation currently ongoing at BPL yesterday, Mr Bannister applauded the efforts of the company and its new board of directors, but admitted that there was still “a long way to go.”

Mr Bannister said there were still critical issues at Clifton Pier in New Providence that needed to be addressed; in addition to the corporation’s legacy issues “with our procurement processes”.

He said the corporation was also still working through several critical issues on par with the crisis in Abaco.

Additionally, Mr Bannister said BPL was considering solar power and solar generation in these areas.

Of these issues, he said: “But these are not overnight fixes, these are problems that have been there for decades and they are problems that we are not going to fix overnight, but we are determined that we are going to get the best of it and that we are going to provide reliable power throughout the country.”