The Barbados National Terminal Company Limited (BNTCL) will engage in preventative maintenance on its pipelines, as part of industry standards and best practices.
Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams, disclosed plans to carry out preventative maintenance to the pipelines laid back in 2005, during a press conference held today at BNTCL Offices, at Fairy Valley, Christ Church.
“In order to ensure the safety and security of BNTCL’s operations and adhere to the relevant international standards and best practices, BNTCL successfully completed comprehensive inspections of the Oistins-to-Terminal and Woodbourne-to-Terminal pipelines.
“This work resulted in the identification of the specific areas where preventative maintenance and upgrades would be necessary,” Minister Abrahams said.
He noted that BNTCL has always operated under the highest international standards, and seeks to continue a safe and risk free storage and transfer of the country’s gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel jetA1 stock, as well as the exportation of crude oil.
He disclosed that inspections of the pipelines initiated in April of this year were carried out at a cost of US $1.5 million, and the maintenance work would be another US$1.5 million, bringing the overall cost of the pipeline maintenance project to just over BDS $6 million.
Monday, July 15, marks the start of the project in an area close to the BNTCL headquarters, and will not initially affect residents or commuters in the area.
The actual pipeline maintenance work will commence on Thursday, July 25, in Charnocks, then from August 16 to 31, the project will be in the Pegwell area. This will be followed by excavation work along Church Hill from August 23 to September 9. All work will be conducted between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Mr. Abrahams stated that the BNTCL operating philosophy ensures that the health and safety of its staff and the Barbadian public, along with the protection of the communities and environments in which it operates remain paramount; and the maintenance is critical at this time to ensure that the pipelines’ integrity remain free from any issues, and optimizes the remaining life of the pipelines.
The Energy Minister said the execution of the pipeline maintenance project “is critical, even though government has a stated vision of transitioning Barbados to a 100% fossil fuel free island, in terms of electricity generation, by 2030.
He added that the core values of “reliability, safety and security, environmental responsibility and sustainable management of the Barbados National Energy Policy critically align to the current and future operations of BNTCL”.
The maintenance work will be carried out by WeldFab Limited. Project Engineer of WeldFab, Jerry Medford, noted that the work would be executed in collaboration with Infra Limited.
Mr. Medford said WeldFab Limited is an organization with over 40 years of experience in the industry, and worked on the initial laying of the pipelines back in 2005.
In an effort to fully inform residents being affected by the work and to hear their concerns, BNTCL will be conducting a series of town hall meetings.
The first will take place at Charnocks Pentecostal Church on Thursday, July 11; the second at Pegwell Community Centre on Wednesday, July 31; and the third and final meeting at Christ Church Community Centre on Monday, August 12. All meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m.