Testing of new LNG power plant underway

Testing has started for the new Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) 47-megawatt power
plant being erected by the Antigua Power Company Ltd., through an agreement
with the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA).
In a statement, APUA said it is currently collaborating with its partners – APCL –
to discuss the best steps to commission the new 5-engine, 47-megawatt Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) Plant.
“The principles of APC and APUA met on the morning of Wednesday, November
22, 2023, to discuss the system outage that occurred on Tuesday, November 21,
2023, due to the LNG plant tripping offline during the performance test, as part of
the commissioning process.
“During this exercise, a single engine failure due to mechanical issues was
reported. At the time of the system outage, the load demand was estimated to be 50
megawatts while the generation output from the LNG Plant was reported to be 46.5
megawatts. While there was one engine online at the Black Pine Power Plant, it
was not enough to balance the electricity demand with power generation,” the
statement revealed.
APUA said it anticipates that further performance and reliability tests will continue
until Friday, November 24, 2023. “During this time, system outages are not
anticipated, however, we would like to advise our customers that during testing,
technical or mechanical issues may arise that may increase the probability of
power outages,” the APUA release stated.
Accordingly, the plant will primarily operate on regasified LNG. However, in the
interim, it will be using diesel until the LNG terminal is completed in early 2024.
“The decision to use regasified LNG, the cleanest of all fossil fuels, will result in
about 40% less carbon production and is in step with the government and APUA’s
plan to reduce its carbon emissions. There is a need to provide electricity in tandem
with the island’s increasing demand for electricity, and the present LNG Plant with
future Renewable Energy Solutions would form APUA’s generation mix. With the
introduction of this additional plant, it means that we will have increased capacity
for generation while allowing for a more consistent delivery of electricity to our
customers,” the release concluded.