💧 Water and Power · U.S. Virgin Islands
WAPA board approved generation, water-line and transformer contracts
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s governing board approved several contract actions at a meeting on St. Thomas on January 24, 2019, including measures tied to power generation on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
The board approved an extension through March 31, 2019, for WAPA’s contract with Sulzer Turbo Services Inc. for Unit 23, described as the authority’s largest generating unit. WAPA said the extension would allow final performance and generator load testing to be completed. The unit had been undergoing a major maintenance overhaul since 2017 at a cost of $4.8 million and was to be available for dispatch in the St. Thomas-St. John district after testing was finished.
The board also approved an amendment to an agreement with Aggreko LLC related to generation capacity at the Estate Richmond Power Plant on St. Croix. Under the action, an advance payment guarantee totaling $1.7 million would be held in escrow by Aggreko as security for WAPA’s financial obligation under the agreement.
Other actions included a change order extending through March 31, 2019, a contract for Orange Grove 24-inch water line installations so the contractor could complete tie-ins to existing transmission mains.
The board also authorized WAPA to enter a $2.3 million contract with RG Engineering to replace a transformer and supporting equipment at the St. John electrical substation. WAPA said the transformer had been destroyed by fire in 2018 during restoration work on St. John.
In a monthly report to the board, Executive Director Lawrence J. Kupfer said there had been no OSHA-reported injuries in December. He also said electric sales were down about 13% compared with December 2016, water inventories had improved on St. Croix, and excess power transformers sold by WAPA for use in Saipan had been delivered.