The engineer Jean Nicolas Hervé Pierre-Louis, the Director General of Electricity of Haiti (EDH) explains that the shortage of electric recorded across the country during the month of January is linked, for the hydro-electric production, to the rainfall indicating that currently Haiti is in low water season (December to April).

For this reason, the 54-MW Peligre power plant with its 3 turbines in the rainy season, currently produces only 14 MW with only one turbine in operation, which affects the power supply to the Central Plateau and the metropolitan area.

On the other hand, at the level of thermal power plants, all operators have been experiencing serious fuel supply problems for several weeks (fuel oil and gas oil) and EDH is not an exception to this "temporary fuel crisis", says Pierre-Louis, pointing out that this lack of fuel has caused severe rationing in Port-au-Prince and in the cities of Provinces. He assures that with the availability of fuels and the standardization of supplies, the EDH service will be able to gradually resume the pace of its distribution on the various circuits throughout the country.

Pierre-Louis, emphasizes that it will however be necessary to wait for the return of the rainy season (May to November) to complete the capacities of production with the entrance with full power on the grid of the Hydro-Electric Power Plan of Péligre.

In addition, he points out that, beyond these cyclical aspects, the EDH faces structural problems that explain the company's inability to respond strategically and effectively to these problems, citing as a cause : the low payment rate of bill from its customers (12.1% in December 2018 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26711-haiti-flash-nearly-90-of-edh-customers-have-not-paid-their-bill.html ) ensuring that the steps to improve the company's relations with its customers are progressing; fraud, the theft of electricity and the construction of extensions of networks outside the norms whose consequences are detrimental for both the company and its subscribers.

Finally, he said that the company would need 1.6 billion gourdes per month to ensure its autonomy, while its monthly revenue around 400 million gourdes on average for the entire territory.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26696-haiti-notice-reduction-of-electricity-in-port-au-prince-the-edh-explains.html

HL/ HaitiLibre