An aerial view of the Randolph Harley power plant in St. Thomas, USVI. Photo Credit: ERNICE GILBERT, V.I. CONSORTIUM.
WAPA says it could bring Unit 27 back online as early as Monday evening, a step the authority says may provide enough additional generation to end service rotations in the St. Thomas-St. John district when combined with its Wärtsilä units, even as customers continue to face scheduled and unplanned outages and intermittent water service in parts of Charlotte Amalie.
In an update issued Sunday, the V.I. Water and Power Authority acknowledged the continued hardship across St. Thomas and St. John, where customers are dealing with daily service rotations and unexpected outages caused by changes in demand.
The authority said crews continue to work on Unit 27, which it described as the most immediate opportunity to increase available power. According to WAPA, repairs on the unit are nearing completion.
Final assembly is expected to be completed Sunday, with testing scheduled to begin Monday afternoon. Based on current progress, WAPA said it is targeting Monday evening for Unit 27 to return to service, pending successful testing and system performance.
If that effort is successful, the authority said the added generation from Unit 27, combined with the Wärtsilä units, is expected to provide enough capacity to end service rotations and improve overall system stability.
Work is also continuing on Unit 15, where a specialized technician remains engaged in diagnostics and troubleshooting. WAPA said the majority of its resources are currently focused on Unit 27 because it represents the fastest path toward increasing generation.
Until that added capacity is restored, however, the authority said customers may continue to experience both scheduled rotations and unplanned outages as system demand shifts. WAPA said it understands how difficult the situation has been and said it does not take the community’s support and understanding for granted.
The update also said downtown Charlotte Amalie continues to experience intermittent water service because of major leaks and water production limitations at the Seven Seas Water Group facility. According to WAPA, water pressure is expected to remain low through 11 p.m. as crews are assembled to carry out necessary repairs.
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