LIHU‘E — Rolling outages for Kaua‘i have been avoided, for now, following the repair of Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s third-largest generating unit, located at Port Allen.
LIHU‘E — Rolling outages for Kaua‘i have been avoided, for now, following the repair of Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s third-largest generating unit, located at Port Allen.
Early Tuesday, KIUC asked members to conserve energy and practice voluntary load reductions due to the unexpected lack of availability of two large generating units: one at the Kapaia Power Station and one at Port Allen generating station.
In addition, the Green Energy biomass plant is undergoing repairs. Overcast weather conditions Tuesday severely impacted production from KIUC’s solar facilities and hampered energy storage in associated solar-battery systems.
“Rolling outages were a possibility, but that’s been avoided for the time being,” said KIUC Chief of Operations Brad Rockwell.
He explained that maintenance crews successfully repaired the generator at Port Allen and it was re-energized at approximately 2 p.m. Tuesday. “The unit looks stable at this time, but we continue to monitor it closely,” said Rockwell.
Rolling outages Tuesday night and today were considered unlikely but still a possibility, especially if overcast weather persists.
If necessary, members will experience rolling outages of 30-minute duration. Due to changing operational conditions and member-security concerns, a rolling outage schedule will not be published ahead of time.
wait for it, almost there, here we go….prepare for more rolling blackouts, as we rely more and more on the sun for energy and burning wood to generate power….common sense, is not that common….