Let’s go 60 hertz

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Dear Editor,

There is a lot of talk regarding the plans to introduce a US$616-million power plant which is said to be a massive 360-megawatt unit that would be powered by LNG.

This unit alone “will replace over 80 per cent of our base-loaded plants and more than 60 per cent of the peak demand,” said Val Fagan of the South Jamaica Power Company. If this is in fact the case, here is a golden opportunity that should not be missed. Approximately 60 years ago, I believe Jamaica changed over from 40 hertz to 50 hertz. Electrical devices that have motors and are sourced from the USA or Mexico therefore operate inefficiently as the frequency in these countries is 60 hertz. Once imported into Jamaica and put into operation, the motors run hot and slow and consume extra electricity/kilowatt-hours.

As consumers we pay for this inefficiency with higher bills from the JPS. If the change was made to 60 hertz then the electricity consumed by the entire island would be reduced immediately as less power would have to be produced. The JPS would also benefit as 60 hertz equipment is easier to source and spare parts would be less of a problem. The manufacturers would also benefit as a considerable amount of electrical equipment in this country consists of 60 hertz-operated mills, elevators, compressors and other large machinery. This is a win-win situation as most consumers would immediately use less electricity, resulting in lower bills from the JPS.

There would still be a considerable amount of generation from 50 hertz/cycle units and the issue would be how to deal with it. Can we have two separate frequencies operating in Jamaica? We actually can, but it would be best to utilise “frequency changers” to convert the output to 60 hertz/cycles. This is not a farfetched idea, as the Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant in the USA still produces power at 40 hertz and supplies power to the local grid at 60 hertz with these devices.

In Mexico, areas operating on 50 hertz were converted as recently as the 1970s to 60 hertz, so what is being suggested can work. What is needed is commitment so that generations to come will benefit from our decisions. We as residential consumers contribute 63 per cent of the revenue that JPS enjoys; the commercial entities contribute another 34 per cent, and “Others” the remaining three per cent. This means that we the residential consumers in Jamaica should petition the JPS, the OUR and the government, as we stand the most to gain from a change from 50 hertz to 60 hertz!

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Let’s go 60 hertz