TTEC paying for extra power

The TT Electricity Commission (TTEC) is paying for excess electricity which is not being used. This was disclosed by TTEC general manager Kelvin Ramsook and chairman Keith Sirju to members of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during a public hearing at Tower D of the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre on Wednesday.

Ramsook and Sirju made this disclosure after PAC chairman Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie asked what were the biggest challenges facing TTEC. Ramsook said TTEC’s contracted capacity is 1,758 megawatts and its peak demand is 1,370 megawatts. He explained this meant there are 400 megawatts on the national grid, “that we pay for.”

Ramsook said the cancellation of the Alutrint project by the former People’s Partnership government resulted in TTEC unexpectedly having to pay for 240 megawatts of electricity. “The cost of that was US$280 million per year,” he said. Ramsook and Sirju said the closure of the Arcelor Mittal plant in Pt Lisas in March 2016 also contributed to excess unused power on the grid. In the case of Mittal, Ramsook said, “We were buying for $180 million and we were selling for $96 million.” He explained that even though Mittal has left TT, TTEC still has to find $96 million to pay power producers because of existing contract arrangements. Ramsook added, “Mittal alone cost $1 billion in ten years.”

Noting TTEC still has to settle a debt that it owes the National Gas Company, Tewarie observed the commission is facing the possibility of an increase in the price of natural gas, “depending on how the cookie crumbles.” TTEC owes NGC approximately US$458,852,624.45.

Ramsook said the current gas price is $1.45 per mmbtu. He said TTEC pays $900 million for natural gas and its income (light and power) is $3.2 billion. In response to Tewarie’s questions about ways to utilise the excess electricity, Ramsook said the Caribbean Gas Chemical Ltd (CGCL) plant in La Brea is only using 19 megawatts of electricity, but another user is exploring whether it will operate one of the direct reduced iron facilities at the former Mittal plant.

At this time, Ramsook said the only other users of this excess electricity would be “the housing development that are coming on stream.” He added, “We expect that the generation that we have, based on our load forecast will be used up by 2024.”