01/06/2023
LOAD SHEDDING EFFECTS TO BUSINESS COMMUNITY IN HONIARA.
This article will briefly share a personal opinion on the effects of the recent load shedding by Solomon Power to business communities in Honiara. Solomon Power had acknowledged that the power situation that is taking place in Honiara is a result of the unavailability of four (4) of its diesel generators cause by various technical issues. They also stated that the maximum demand for Honiara is currently 16MW against a maximum available generation capacity of 25MW. Therefore, the maximum available generation capacity is now reduced from 25MW to 13MW meaning that more than 50 per cent of their installed generation capacity is now unavailable which resulted in the need to shed or turn off power to customers during the day when demand is normally high.
Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) operators in the Heart of Honiara city that only rely on the electricity supply from Solomon Power are tremendously impacted. The power outage caused by the load shedding had left a lot of businesses remain idle in their operation as electricity is an important factor to their production. Businesses which heavily depend on electrical equipment and other machineries powered by electricity are heavily impacted with delayed production and late service delivery.
The important question is “How long will this load shedding activity continue?”
It is important to note that power outage had dramatically affected business production which would lead to lower performance. SME’s that are able to afford generators and fuel are slightly lucky enough to ensure that their electrical supply continues from an alternative source. However, I assume not all SME’s in Honiara will recommend having or purchasing a generator as a sustainable idea to address the issue because it will only accumulate the cost of operation/production. Not all SME’s in Honiara could afford generators and constantly purchasing fuel to keep the generators running, especially during the height of fuel prices. Therefore, this is not a sustainable approach for business to partake.
When power outage leads to lower productivity, it reduces revenue and profitability of businesses as well. During the day, business lost almost 4-5 hours from the power outages which leave employees waiting for power to be restored before continuing their work. This kind of working environment is not encouraging for businesses as it doesn’t achieve the expected productivity of the day due to loss of business hours.
SME’s are considered as the engine of growth for the local economy of our country Solomon Islands, with majority of businesses operating in Honiara, it is with great concern that emphasis must be given to the business community. I believe that the Solomon Islands Chamber of commerce (SICCI) will also look into this issue and suggest ways to address it with Solomon Power going forward. SME's will not thrive and grow in such working environment where there is unstable electricity supply in the capital which goes on for more than two weeks.
Overall, the recent power outage does not only affect SME's but also damages the local economy of the country. Businesses contributed alot to the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) through taxes and other legal obligations; therefore, if the business environment is unfavorable to the business community then certainly we will expect a degrading economy especially during this time when our economy is already at a weakening position.
On that note, it is important to understand that Solomon Power is trying its utmost best to restore the current electrical disruption back to normalcy. Solomon Power had reiterated that the current power situation had challenged their internal process, technical strengths, communication strategies and business continuity plans. They also stated that they are reallocating resources (time and personnel) to resolve the generator issues, rescheduling maintenance works to after hours and on weekends, performing major overhaul on generators that are being out of service and they are also reassessing load shedding schedules to minimize outrage as much as possible.
Solomon Power had also further stated that they are fast tracking procurement of required parts by airfreight and they are following up daily with parts/service providers. They will continue to inform customers regarding updates of the power situation through social media and SICCI for the business community.
I applaud Solomon Power that despite the challenges they are encountering, they continuously do their best to keep us informed and updated with the current power situation that we are experiencing in Honiara. Let us be patient and encourage Solomon Power to carry out their work as quickly as possible in going forward to restore the power issue to normalcy.
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Raitim Stori
