The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board is launching a new power complex this summer, testing the new modernized approach to the city’s pumping system this hurricane season.
Ron Spooner with the Sewerage and Water Board said this will be a game-changer for the city’s aging system.
“We’re moving out of the 80 to 100-year-old century, we’re coming into the modern century,” said Spooner.
The complex will allow the board to draw power directly from Entergy’s grid and convert it into electricity suitable for the century-old pumps.
It includes Turbine 7, designed to produce efficient backup power. Sewerage and Water Board leaders said the upgrade will prevent outages that have previously affected turbines like Turbine 4.
“Stability, resilience. Customers can have a sigh of relief that we’re not going to get on and say something happened with T4 or something happened with another turbine, that is really the key,” said Spooner.
City council members are supportive of the upgrades, hoping they will alleviate concerns during hurricane season.
“Between a new turbine and power station, we may have to worry about the lines being clean, but we won’t have to worry about if the power works,” said Joe Giarrusso.
The Sewerage and Water Board aims to ensure a stable power system that provides continuous electricity flow to pumps and facilities, allowing for proper management of conditions during hurricanes.
“Having a stable power system provides continuous flow of electricity to our pumps and facilities, and then we can properly manage whatever conditions come our way,” said Spooner.
READ MORE:New power complex will test S&WB pumping system this hurricane season