July 01 - Temporary Turbines Have “Positive Effect” On South District Air Quality
In January the Government deployed temporary turbines in the North Mole in order to give Gibraltar enough capacity to cover its electricity needs. Since then, say the Government, any power cuts have not been due to lack of generating capacity but mainly due to the aging infrastructure which had not been properly maintained, a problem that is now finally being addressed.
Following this, the two old power stations in the South District have been switched off at night. The Department of the Environment has now analysed the data from two air quality monitoring stations in the South District, one at Rosia Road and another at Witham's Road.
A spokesperson said: “As the graphs show, the levels of Nitrogen Dioxide, a major pollutant, has been greatly reduced during the night (0 - 6 hrs), as predicted, and there has also been an overall effect such that levels have continued to be lower throughout the rest of the day.”
In the meantime, work to install silencers on the new temporary turbines is expected to be completed this week.
A spokesperson continued: “This is all clear evidence that the Government's programme of improvement to the environment is taking shape, resulting in clear benefits to the community. The intention is to continue to reduce the use of the South District power stations as much as possible until they can be fully replaced by the new power station. This will mean that deposits of soot in the area, which had been a problem for years, should come to an end once the Government's programme has been completed.”
