BASSETERRE, St. Kitts –FURTHER reliability would soon be added to St. Kitts’ electricity supply, as the government recently purchased a MAN Diesel Ltd. Holeby generator for the island.
Around 9:00 this morning, the new generator was seen being offloaded at the Basseterre Sea Port, and at roughly 11:00 am this media house was reliably informed that it was being transported to the Needsmust Power Station on Wellington Road.
SKNVibes contacted the Superintendent at the power plant, Kevin Bennett, who confirmed that the MAN Holeby generator arrived on the island this morning. He further informed that the new piece of machinery brings the number of MAN generators to three, and is expected to boost the plant’s generating capacity by 3.9 megawatts.
For the last four years, the island has experienced widespread blackouts and brownouts that have been a source of inconvenience for many residents.
In October 2008, the problem was further exacerbated when one of the largest Mirrlees generators was destroyed and another incapacitated after a mechanical fire broke out. This caused a 7.9 megawatt decrease in capacity at the plant, triggering a lengthy period of load shedding across the island.
The following month, the government moved to rent a number of Aggreko generators at the cost of nearly EC $11 million for a one year period. The Aggreko containers generate about 7.5 megawatts, the necessary amount to replace the damaged equipment.
The new generator has reportedly cost the government a bill of US $4.2 million, but the investment is expected to increase the standing generating capacity island-wide to 37.3 megawatts.
Acting General Manager of the Electricity Department Bertil Browne explained that consumers can look forward to a more reliable electricity supply with the commission of the new engine.
“It would improve the reliability [of the electricity supply] in that we will have more capacity to supply the island. The new engine would allow us to have more flexibility in any case of generator failure,” he informed.
The MAN engine brings to nine the number of government-owned generators at the Power Station.
According to Browne, the generator was expected on island two weeks ago and the delay will put off the scheduled November commission. He added that the generator has to be set up and tested and would likely be commissioned in early December.
