WAPA Still Experiencing Problems in the Harley Power Plant

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority instituted a rotating power schedule Thursday as technicians in the Randolph E. Harley Power Plant worked from very early morning to restore electric service to utility customers. At 3:15 a.m. Thursday, a transformer on gas turbine Unit #18 malfunctioned which resulted in a total shutdown of the power plant and outages which affected St. Thomas and St John. By late morning, WAPA was able to bring Units #11, #12, #15 and #22 on line and restored service to both islands. The larger hotels cooperated by going off line and generating their own power.

However, WAPA was forced to implement feeder rotation from noon to 6 p.m. when plant personnel continued to have difficulty bringing its 21.5 megawatt gas turbine Unit #23 on line, said Hugo Hodge, WAPA’s Executive Director (CEO). Without this unit, WAPA is unable to meet its daily peak load requirements because several other units are down for repair. “Unit #23 needs a major overhaul and it is way overdue for maintenance,” said Hodge. “Because maintenance to this unit has been deferred for such a very long period of time, every time it goes down, it becomes increasingly harder to start the unit. We have been working on this unit all day without success but with much frustration,” he said. Deferred maintenance is a consequence of WAPA’s continuing inability to both properly maintain its equipment and meet its continually rising fuel costs, Hodge said.

By 6 p.m., plant personnel were able to restore service to all customers with the exception of the hotels and without Unit #23 in operation. However, if necessary, WAPA announced an evening rotation schedule as follows: Service Interrupted Time

Feeders 9A and 9C 6-8 p.m.

Feeders 10B and 7D 8-10 p.m.

If necessary, rotation will continue into Friday if WAPA cannot restore service to all of the necessary generating units in the Harley Power Plant, Hodge said.

Hodge expressed appreciation to WAPA’s customers for their patience and understanding and commended the larger hotels in the St. Thomas/St. John district for their cooperation while WAPA has been working to stabilize its system. Hodge also said he was very proud of and grateful to all of the employees who have been diligently working since very early Thursday morning and have refused to leave until all generating units are back on line.