💧 Water and Power · U.S. Virgin Islands
WAPA board approved operations agreement for new Harley generating units
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority board, meeting in an emergency session on St. Croix on April 11, 2019, authorized WAPA to enter a shared operations and maintenance agreement with Wartsila Caribbean for three new generating units at the Randolph Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas.
WAPA said the agreement called for WAPA staff to operate and maintain the facility under Wartsila's direction until production staff gained enough experience to handle the work independently. The contract covered day-to-day operations, scheduled preventive maintenance, major maintenance and related administration.
The agreement was set for 36 months, with an option to renew for 12 more months, at a total cost of $7.9 million over three years.
WAPA said testing and commissioning of the new units had taken place in the preceding weeks and that the generators had been tested up to capacity, providing 21 megawatts of power for the St. Thomas-St. John district. The units were fueled by propane.
The board also approved two contracts with Ethos Energy for hot gas path inspections on two generators at the Estate Richmond Power Plant on St. Croix. The combined value of those contracts was $1,035,387.
WAPA said all votes were unanimous.