THE power situation in Honiara is a result of the unavailability of four of Solomon Power’s diesel generators due to various technical issues.
In a statement today, Solomon Power said it acknowledged that the current power situation in Honiara has really affected its customers’ livelihood and businesses due to the forced load shedding over the past three weeks and it sincerely apologised for this inconvenienced.
“For your information, the maximum demand for Honiara is currently 16MW against a maximum available generation capacity of 25MW.
“The outrage of these generators means that the maximum available generation capacity has now reduced significantly from 25MW to 13MW. More than 50 per cent of our installed generation capacity is now unavailable to us hence the need to shed or turn off power to customers during the day when demand is normally higher compared to at night,” the statement.
Solomon Power added that the power situation in Honiara has also challenged Solomon Power’s internal processes, technical strengths, communication strategies and business continuity plans.
It said to address this problem Solomon Power is now reallocating resources (time and personnel) to resolve the generator issues, re-scheduled maintenance works to after hours and on weekends when demand for power is much smaller, perform a major overhaul on generators that are out of service and reassessing new load shedding schedules to minimise outrage as much as possible.
It said it will also fast track procurement of required parts by airfreight and follow up daily with parts/service providers.
Solomon Power said it will continue to inform customers of the issue through social media and to the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SICCI).