BARBADIANS NEED NOT FEAR about the Barbados Light &?Power Company’s (BL&P) capacity to deal with the impact of a tsunami.
Yesterday manager of marketing and corporate communications Stephen Worme said this country’s most powerful generating plant on the coastline at Spring Garden, St Michael had the infrastructure to minimise some of the lethal force of a tsunami.
“The major portion of their equipment is above the level at which the tsunami is likely to affect,” he explained.
“A study was done in the 1990s about what the impact of a tsunami would be and we designed our new low-speed diesel station in 2005 to accommodate that.
“While there would be some equipment that may be affected, we expect that most of the major portion of that equipment would not be affected. That is what we did once we recognised the impact.”
The two 30-megawatt low-speed diesel generators have been built 15 feet above sea-level and there is a retainer wall around the new generating station – something Worme says will minimise the impact of a tsunami.
“I . . . The area is a vulnerable area, but we have recognised the potential danger and that is why we have made provision for future expansion to be elsewhere,” he reported.
Worme said BL&P has acquired land in Trents, St Lucy and any future generating capacity expansion will take place there.
“It’s a high area and is well above the expected levels of a tsunami,” he pointed out. “It is just inland from Checker Hall . . . . The sea comes in at a low level and then there is a cliff. The area there is a relatively safe area from any tsunami,” he added.
About two-thirds of this country’s electric power is produced at Spring Garden, which has eight generators. Next in line is the plant located at Seawell, Christ Church.
Worme told the DAILY?NATION that talks were still ongoing in relation to establishing the wind farm at Lamberts, St Lucy, a project which received governmental approval last year.
The land there is owned by Barbados Farms and the BL&?P?is currently renegotiating a long-term lease agreement with the company on the use of that land.“We have to go out for tender for the actual purchase and installation of the equipment.”
