Expert dismisses malicious statements
by PAM leader and The Democrat

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas gets briefing following the fire at the Needsmust Power Plant. (clockwise - General Manager of the Electricity Department, Mr. John Channer; Minister of Public Utilities, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin; St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas; Chief Secretary, Mr. Joseph Edmeade; MAN Diesel Regional Representative, Mr. Terry Burns and Superintendent of the Needsmust Power Station, Mr. Kevin Bennet.(Photos by Erasmus Williams)

“The first (ever) Mirrlees MB430 was installed, was commissioned in July 1987, which is almost 13 years before these ones were installed here (in St. Kitts),” said MAN Diesel’s Regional Representative, Mr. Terrence Burns, in response to a question from WINNFM’s Toni Frederick.

MAN Diesel (formerly MAN B&W Diesel) is the world’s leading provider of large-bore diesel engines for marine propulsion systems and power plant applications and turbochargers.

Mr. Burns was at the time speaking at a Press Conference called to update the public on the progress to improve the distribution of electricity following a fire which damaged the two largest generators at the Needsmust Power Plant.

He said that the Mirrlees MB430 engine is successful and has been installed all over the world with a number of similar types in China, Europe and South America.
“So the suggestion that these were prototypes is not correct,” said Burns, who reiterated that “the first MB430 was commissioned in July of 1987.”

“They are not. You (St. Kitts) has no prototype engines,” Burns stressed, pointing out that the engine is one of the “most successful medium speed 720RPM diesel engines ever built.”

He said it is presently manufactured in several countries as far as Denmark, China, Poland, and South Korea. Factories in all those countries are building that engine right now,” disclosed Burns.
He also said that “every single engine that he is aware of at the Needsmust Power Plant is certainly field tested and has a track

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas inspects the damaged generators at the Needsmust Power Plant, the day after the fire

On the availability of spare parts for all the generators, Mr., Burns said: 'Even the engines that you have dating back to 1970, spare parts are readily available, every single one of the engines that St. Kitts Electricity has, including the MB430's , parts are available from the manufacturer and will be for the life expectancy of the engines.'

'We hope the media will get these facts out,' said Burns, referring to the continued allegations from Mr. Lindsay Grant and the platform of the People's Action Movement and in the opposition owned Democrat newspaper.

It  was further revealed that prior to the fire, the 6 megawatt Mirrlees 8MB 430 and the 8 megawatt 12MB 430 had generated 45 percent of the electricity supplied to the national grid so far for the year, three times that of the Caterpillar, which only generated 16 percent.

 MAN Diesel engines have outputs ranging from 450 to 97,300 kW of power. MAN Diesel employs over 7,000 staff, primarily in Germany, Denmark, France, the Czech Republic, India and China.
 
The global after-sales organisation, MAN Diesel PrimeServ, comprises a network of the company’s own service centres, supported by authorised partners.

MAN Diesel is a subsidiary of the German multi-national MAN AG corporation since 1980 when MAN acquired the Burmeister & Wain Danish shipyard and diesel engine producer, whose headquarters were in Copenhagen. The company still maintains operations at three main sites in Denmark for manufacturing, servicing, and licensing of its two-stroke engines and complete propulsion systems.
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