GEBE Commercial Department Head Mishlyn Stephen, Temporary Manager Troy Washington and Distribution Manager Patrick Drijvers.
PHILIPSBURG--Utilities company NV GEBE is expecting to finalise its discussions and potentially ink an agreement to have containerised generators come to the country to help alleviate the current power crisis gripping the country.
Temporary Manager Troy Washington updated the media on the matter at a press conference at GEBE on Wednesday.
“On Sunday, June 16, there was an extraordinary board meeting with my board. My board authorised me or gave me the authorisation to finalise discussions with our potential suppliers and to go into final negotiations, and if it comes to a signature I am allowed to now sign on behalf of the company and bind the company towards whichever supplier we feel fit,” Washington told reporters. “We are expected to finalise our discussions and potentially come to a signature by the end of this week.”
The company is no longer considering renting a power barge to help alleviate the power crisis, as this option is too expensive. Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina had told Parliament recently that two options were on the table, including one made by Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) Member of Parliament (MP) Christophe Emmanuel.
Mercelina had told the legislature that authorities have been looking quite extensively into the power barge solution and realised during their analysis that it is a very expensive solution for the short term. He said renting the barge to provide 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity would cost approximately US $3.9 million per month. Renting for 32MW would cost $5.4 million per month and 50MW $8.2 million per month. This includes fuel.
He explained that the power barge could be in the country and functional in six weeks – approximately 10 days to get to the island and an additional 4 weeks to get it functional to produce energy for the community. Additionally, a down payment would have to be made.
Once the decision is taken to order the containerised generators, they will take an average of three months to arrive and become functional to service the community. It will cost approximately $300,000 per month excluding fuel.
With the containerised generators arriving in three months after being ordered and the power barge in six weeks, Mercelina believes it makes little sense to pay the exorbitant amount of funds for the power barge to serve the country for just six weeks, a conclusion that many MPs disagreed with. Some MPs said the cost is not too much for residents to have a stable and reliable energy supply.
