Over
the last couple of months Northwest Territories Power Corporation staff
have been working hard to fix a number of faulty equipment and operating
software issues that have been causing one of the Wartsilla gas engines
to malfunction.
Regional Director
Brian Willows said that following a new software upgrade there was a
communications issue between our two gas engines.
'This happened just
after we had fixed a faulty gas injection unit that had been causing
my staff considerable concern, and we believe it was this piece of equipment
that was responsible for several of the outages experienced in September'
he said.
To compound matters,
one of the Corporation's back-up diesel units that automatically comes
into service when one of the gas engines stops generating, itself developed
a technical fault. The computer system that controls the engine's internal
fans failed, resulting in one of the control modules having to be replaced.
Good support from
the suppliers of the gas engines, together with further enhanced on-the-job
training for the Corporation's operating technicians, means that there
will be fewer outages and those that do occur will be of shorter duration.
'Outages are bad
news for our customers and also for the Corporation. We are committed
to achieving 100% reliability of electricity supply in Inuvik', said
Willows. 'Compared with last year the frequency and duration of outages
has been reduced by approximately 50%. Supplying safe, reliable electricity
is our business and we will continue to regularly update customers on
our performance.'
For further information
contact:
Brian
Willows
Director, Delta Sahtu
Ph. (867) 777-7711
or
Peter Watt
Public Relations Officer
Ph. (867) 874-5215
