(CNS): Grand Cayman’s sole power supplier, CUC, has issued a statement warning that its shrinking reserve margin means customers could soon see rolling power outages as the mercury climbs this summer. Growing demand driven by already record high temperatures, economic growth and delays in OfReg’s bid for new for the grid means that CUC will need to shed load. With the to continue, CUC’s current generation reserve margin is lower than normal, which increases the risk of the power provider having to shed customer load as air-conditioning systems have to work harder.
The reserve margin is the difference between the total installed electricity generation capacity and peak customer electricity demand. CUC said the reserve margin is shrinking due to rapidly increasing electricity demand driven by economic growth, record-high temperatures and delays in adding new generating capacity to the grid. Peak electricity demand on Grand Cayman grew by 9% from 2022 to 2023 and is still growing.
CUC last installed significant additional generation capacity in 2016, with a smaller addition in 2022. All generation capacity installations require approval from the regulator, OfReg. In 2019, CUC predicted increased consumer demand and proposed a 13-megawatt solar plus storage project as a clean energy option.
OfReg did not approve the proposal pending the initiation of a competitive bid for such a project. However, the regulator has still not opened an official bid, even though CUC warned in .
