Curacao Mulls Switch to LNG

Finnish technology firm Wartsila said it has been awarded a contract to supply a 39-MW power plant to the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.

The contract was awarded by Aqualectra, Curacao’s power and water utility company which is 100% owned by the island territory.

The new plant will run initially on pollutive heavy fuel oil (HFO), switching "at a later date" to regasified LNG. Wartsila said, once running on LNG, the plant will "notably reduce the utility’s environmental impact." It will be equipped with continuous emissions monitoring capability.

Aqualectra already has more than 46 MW of installed wind power generation capacity but wants to add more. The new fast-start capacity to be added by Wartsila will add reliability to the island grid, enabling the utility to handle intermittency associated with wind energy generation. The order, value of which was not disclosed, was booked in October. Wartsila will deliver equipment mid-2018; the plant is expected to be operational in November 2018.

LNG's role in Caribbean energy supply is expanding, with Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and more recently Jamaica importing cargoes. Haiti and other small nations in the region are expected to follow suit.

Mark Smedley