They keep track of the delays that occur in the maintenance of production units – Noticel – The truth – News from Puerto Rico – Noticel

Genera PR will have until May to complete maintenance on units in Palo Seco, Aguirre and Costa Sur.

Although the Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, publicly guaranteed that the island would not suffer from more blackouts, the risk of it during peak season – the months of June and July – is a very secretive one.

During a Senate Strategic Projects and Energy Commission hearing on Thursday, it was revealed that there were maintenance delays at several units in Palo Seco, Aguirre and Costa Sur.

If Genera PR does not comply with the maintenance plan to maintain the daily demand for energy loads when higher temperatures are expected in the coming months, as was the case in the summer of 2023, the risk of daily blackouts will be a reality.

Genera PR Ghatak did not answer the public hearing on the reasons due to which it had to leave the maintenance of several units till last.

Genera PR was invited to testify before the Commission chaired by Senator Javier Aponte Dalmau, which examines the conditions, functioning, performance, operation, capacity and planning of the energy generation system.

Executive Director of the Electric Power Authority (PREPA), Engineer Josue A. Colón Ortiz had already mentioned in recent days that the stability of the electrical network was in the hands of Genera PR due to the high demand that was to come.

“We are following the plant maintenance plan that they proposed in August last year. Last summer, Puerto Rico suffered load shifts of between 12 and 14 hours due to energy demand. The heat turned up and we all know what happened. For this occasion, we are considering these because Genera initially established that in order to comply with that maintenance plan, they needed 350 portable generation units that they supplied from FEMA and they needed to purchase those plants. Was. Now, all these maintenances have been delayed and today we saw them here…” Aponte Dalmau expressed noticesale,

Due to the risk of this delay, the Commission will conduct a visual inspection on the last day that Genera PR is required to perform maintenance on the plants.

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On 5 April, the Commission will visit Costa Azul facilities; On April 15 they will reach Aguirre and on May 30 they will visit the Palo Seco generator.

“We told them clearly that no further delay will be allowed. In order to acquire the plants that were acquired on March 15, everyone is being told, even the director of the Electric Power Authority, that they have to purchase those plants and have them authorized by FEMA . FEMA authorized it three months ago! They kept dragging their feet and waiting until the last moment to be able to buy them. what happens now? Those portable plants have already been used. Therefore, they must be maintained to comply with the environmental requirements demanded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),” he explained.

According to Genera PR at the hearing, after completing maintenance at the main units (Palos Seco (3), Aguirre (1) and Costa Sur (6), they will have to increase PREPA’s capacity by 1,833 MW (46%) in June 2023. More than 2,800 MW, which represents more than 60% of PREPA’s fleet.

Taking into account the capacity of private generators AES and Ecoelectrica, Genera PR says that the integrated system should have an estimated capacity of 4,000 MW to be able to withstand times of greatest energy demand and the upcoming hurricane season.

The maximum demand in 2023 was recorded at 3,165 MW, which is more than the maximum demand in the last 10 years. This reflects a trend of increasing energy consumption in Puerto Rico, which was contrary to what was predicted in previous years.

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Aponte Dalmau denounced in the public hearing that as of June 30, the available generation was 1,833 MW, which corresponded to 43%, exactly as he stated in the recent public hearing and that it was 57% (2,700 MW). were inactive.

Genera PR confirmed that these megawatts (57%) corresponded to units that were undergoing repairs, others that were under maintenance and others that were not going to be used again.

“At the Palo Seco plant, units one and two do not re-enter, San Juan units eight and 10, Costa Sur, units two, three and four. Those are big base generation plants that we will no longer be able to rely on,” the engineer highlighted.

“You tell the people of Puerto Rico what the reality is. I want you to tell me the service will be adequate… There were some portables here that they had to buy, they have three generators that they know the EPA has seized that should be available, FEMA 12 billion Gives dollars to the people of Puerto Rico to make improvements, the Electric Power Authority tells them months in advance that they have to buy (generators), in August they tell us that if they do not buy them they cannot do the maintenance, There are maintenance delays, and what I see here is that the panorama is full of tasks that have to be done and I don’t think the tasks are done on time and correctly,” the senator said.

Genera PR responded that they have been steadfast in their commitment to maintain the energy system and as recently as last Friday, they negotiated a transaction to permanently incorporate the generators into the AEE fleet.

“In hindsight, you realized you didn’t have the money or resources to maintain the plants and you had to deal with the energy shortages that were experienced and the load shifts that were experienced and people didn’t “He wants to live them again this year,” Aponte Dalmau replied.

The senator told noticesale They will now wait for the dates when Netra Darshan will take place in the coming months to know the future of the generation.

“What happens in all this is that sometimes it becomes difficult for us to understand that, unfortunately, there has been some neglect here. Because there is no one who has publicly taken responsibility for the consequences of this energy crisis,” he said.

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