Total Blackout in the one Happy Island Aruba on April 2019
Last Sunday 28th April 2019, at 5:20 PM there have been a series of failures in the power system generation of the local utilities companies on Aruba. WEB Aruba N.V. the utility company in charge of producing the electrical power from different sources such as Boilers and Steam Turbines, RECIP Engines and wind turbines, suffered a failure and notified different parts of the island this would take about 3 hours on their Facebook pages . Despite their efforts, the Local Utility companies couldn’t solve the power outage until early morning the next day on Monday. Elmar and Web Aruba utility companies are doing their best to keep up with the high and increasing demand for more power supply in a growing economy such as Aruba. But we can’t just depend fully on this resource anymore.
The situation escalated Sunday afternoon turning into an absolute blackout for the island. This time, not only certain urban areas suffered from a power blackout, but absolutely all power supply on the whole island of Aruba had been suspended. Making this one single day of the year an enormous loss for the many local restaurants, hotels and the economy as a whole being hurt. What seems to be a simple situation on a Sunday afternoon was a financial catastrophic situation for many of the small local businesses and larger businesses that depend on continuous supply of power on the island of Aruba. Not even counting the disappointment of the thousands of tourists who were ready to enjoy their perhaps last dinner on the island – leaving us with this bad impression of Aruba. A total blackout situation seems totally inconceivable for citizens from first world countries who are the majority of our visitors on the island but to the citizens and businesses on Aruba it is a year-to-year regular situation that affects us all. Were you one of the many spectators of the sad situation where our island visitors were wandering hopeless from restaurant to restaurant trying to get something to eat?
If you are a manager or business owner in Aruba and especially if you cater to tourists you would want to be 100% certain that a future similar situation will not affect your business again. But not only do we need to protect our businesses and maintain Aruba as a dream destination for tourists from all over the world. We also have to become more aware of our usage of resources and how we can contribute enjoying our island in a more sustainable way. Both are essential in keeping your business going and both are essential in maintaining our quality of life on Aruba.
Rotech Aruba offers multiple alternative power resources and power solutions that make you less dependent on the Local Utility companies. These alternatives are the solution not to lose money in these common situations, but they are also a great investment in lower electricity costs over time and maintaining our main asset: our beautiful island!. Some of the solutions we offer are: Solar power power source with Crystal batteries for a hybrid or fully off grid solutions.
With having your own source of power you become totally independent of what happens at the Local Utilities Companies. With a battery of your own you manage your own power supply and consumption. At Rotech we work with Lead Crystal Batteries, as we believe these batteries are the best solution for the Aruban environment. The Lead Crystal Battery is an amazing technology with a life expectancy of up to 18 years! Fast recharging is convenient, as it will provide flexibility but also the environmental conditions should be taken into account. With our high climate temperatures it is important to choose the right battery that can handle extreme temperatures. The Lead Crystal battery charges up to two times faster than conventional alternatives and can operate in extreme temperatures ranging from -40C up to +65 C!
If you already took precautions with an emergency generator as a reliable source of power in case we have a major blackout situation like yesterday, it is important to ensure it will work at the time you will need it! An emergency generator may not be used for a while, until that moment that you really need it because it is your only alternative. In the event of a power failure, you should have peace of mind that your backup power source will kick into action on a moment’s notice. But what happens when the power goes out and your generator does not function as expected? The result is still as costly and sometimes catastrophic as for all the other businesses that didn’t take precautions. For testing purposes Rotech Aruba offers Load bank testing solution for testing your backup power supply.
So when you decide to invest in an alternative power source for emergencies, make sure you don’t forget about Load Bank Testing! Load Bank Testing is an essential piece of a comprehensive preventative generator maintenance plan, which you should ideally be conducted on your generator each year. Load bank testing helps to ensure that your generator will be fully dependable and operational, as well as completely capable of the highest possible load it may be required to handle at any critical point in time. This is one of the services we can provide for you as well!
If you want to learn more about your options taking precautions for future blackouts, contact us today! We would love to discuss your situation and possibilities without any further obligation!
