💧 Water and Power · U.S. Virgin Islands
WAPA signed $2.7 million contract for St. John standby generators and battery storage
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said on August 21, 2019, that it had signed a $2.7 million contract with Wartsila LLC for the initial phase of a project to install two standby four-megawatt generating units on St. John, along with up to two megawatts of battery storage.
WAPA said the agreement secured a place in Wartsila's production line and covered engineering services for the two units. The authority said the generators were planned for Coral Bay and Cruz Bay as part of a broader turnkey project to be engineered, procured and constructed by Wartsila North America.
According to WAPA, the project was developed after the 2017 hurricanes, when electrical service on St. John took 51 days to restore. The authority said St. John's electricity demand was being met through two submarine cables from the east end of St. Thomas, leaving the island dependent on St. Thomas for power.
WAPA said the Emergency Generation Hazard Mitigation Project for St. John was funded by FEMA on a 90-10 cost share, with the authority's 10% match to be covered through federal HUD grant money.
The archived release also referred to a rendering of the St. John emergency standby generator project.