St. Thomas has had periodic rotating power outages in recent weeks partly because its newest, largest, most efficient generator is off-line and will remain so for several more weeks, V.I Water and Power Authority Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr. told WAPA’s governing board Thursday.
Unit No. 23, the plant’s most essential 42-megawatt gas turbine failed several weeks ago, just before a scheduled major overhaul, he and plant staff told the board.
“Having a 42-megawatt unit out is significant in terms of reliability,” Hodge said. “It leaves a very small margin.” That one unit can provide most of the base load requirements on its own, and under ideal circumstances, it would be running at top capacity, 24-hours a day, he said. “It runs at maximum efficiency when it is at full load,” he said. Without it, the rest of the system, which also needs more preventive maintenance, can only supply the full peak demand if nothing else goes wrong.
Since then, other units have been acting up and operating inefficiently and less than reliably, he said. When there have been problems with other units, the distribution system has automatically triggered rotating power outages in order to prevent a longer, island-wide outage.
“It’s unacceptable,” Hodge said. “We are working towards performing better, and we will do better.”
With the unit off-line anyway, technicians began the scheduled major overhaul early, but an unexpected rotor problem was discovered when repairs were almost complete. The rotor will be sent to New Mexico for analysis and repair on Friday, and it will likely be another month before the unit can be put back in service.
Before that happens, repairs will be complete on two other problem units. And when it is back online, it will bring up efficiency for the entire Harley power plant and create some breathing space in which to overhaul a third generator, he said. “We’ll struggle for three or four more weeks but when it’s done, we’ll be in a better place.” Hodge said.
Meanwhile, the St. Croix plant has been operating much more efficiently since its new waste-heat recovery boiler came online in August.
“The plant is now more efficient than it has ever been and is perhaps the most efficient plant in the Caribbean region,” Hodge said.
Elisa Sanchez, a civil engineer with WAPA, reported that MIOX Corporation was selected to install a mixed oxidant disinfection system to replace an aging water disinfection system at the Richmond Plant. The new system will produce chlorinating compounds on site from salt and water, eliminating the need to transport and store potentially dangerous chlorine gas in the plant. It will also cut time and labor costs, according to WAPA. The board approved increasing project funding by $5,550 to add a chlorine injector and analyzer to ensure proper chlorine administration to the system.
The injector and the analyzer will be enclosed in a mobile unit that is the first of its kind installed by MIOX. Because it is mobile, it can be moved to different parts of the system. This is useful because there are plans afoot to expand the water system and add new reverse-osmosis water production, so the best location for the chlorination system will change, Sanchez said. The MIOX products are used in over 30 countries for public water systems, according to WAPA. The project is funded by a federal stimulus grant of $300,000 and WAPA internal funds of $81,000.
The board also approved a change order to RG Engineering’s existing contract for the potable water system expansion and electric duct bank project in Smith Bay, adding $101,000 to the cost and giving the company another 137 days to finish.
The change brings the new contract total to $1.8 million. The project will increase water system revenues in the St. Thomas district and improve electric system reliability for St. John. The delay and increased cost were due to recent heavy rains, some unexpected heavy rock excavation, discovering unmapped sewer mains at the dig site and difficulty coordinating with some federally funded drainage work “within a few feet of our contractors,” said Noel Hodge, WAPA’s St. Thomas director of water distribution.
In other business, the board:
— approved payment of V.I. Public Services Commission assessments totaling $694,000. That total includes an annual assessment of $623,000 representing WAPA’s portion, or 41 percent of the PSC’s annual operating budget of $1.5 million; $600,000 on Docket 289, matters related to the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause; $2,241 and $8,000 respectively for the electric and water rate cases reviewed in 2009.
–approved a 90-day extension of Asplundh Tree Expert Company’s contract and additional fees of up to $212,000, for tree trimming throughout the territory. Asplundh’s three-year contract totals $3.5 million;
– after going into executive session, board members reported they approved parameters for wage increase negotiations with the V.I. Workers Union, which represents supervisory personnel.
Attending Thursday’s meeting were Chairwoman Juanita Young, members Gerald Groner, Brenda Benjamin, Noel Loftus, Cheryl Jackson, V.I. Personnel Director Kenneth Hermon, Jr., Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Wayne Biggs, and Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Robert Mathes. Donald Francois was absent.
