BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THREE engines at the Needsmust Power Station are currently down for repairs, causing one Electricity Department official to warn the public that “electricity can go at any time” in the foreseeable future.
According to Operations Engineer C. Jomo Williams, the 8MB 430, Holeby #2 and KV 12 #2 engines at the power station are all down for repairs, placing the nation’s current power supply at a mere 19.5 megawatts (MW).
“This is a far cry from the 24.5MW demand during the daytime and the 22.5 during the night peak from 19:00 to 21:00,” Williams stated in a release this evening (May 28).
The 8MB 430 engine has been down for repairs since May 10 when a failure caused the generator to trip. Immediately following that event, the Electricity Department announced a six-week load shedding schedule for St. Kitts while repairs were to be carried out.
While initial repairs had been moving on schedule for the past two weeks, matters became increasingly complicated when a series of equipment failures brought the other two engines down late this week.
“On Wednesday night the KV 12 #1 engine tripped as a result of a failed pump on the cooling system at 23:45, which lead to the opening of the Bayfords, Canada, Industrial Site and Sandy Point feeders,” Williams stated.
Hard work by members of the Electricity Department proved successful Thursday (May 27) as they restored the power supply to roughly 23MW. However, trouble struck again that same day around 11:30 p.m. when the Holeby #2 generator had to be shut down “after there was an abnormal reading on one of the cylinder heads”.
According to Williams, the damage to the Holeby engine was not “as serious as initially expected” and repairs are expected to be completed by June 4.
By early Friday morning, the situation became even more dire when an “earth fault generated on the system due to the inclement weather” brought down a series of engines and nearly left the island in complete blackout.
Repairs began immediately and electricity was returned to most areas by 10 a.m., barring those serviced by the Cayon, Sandy Point and Basseterre North feeders. The series of unfortunate circumstances has left the three engines down and the general public with an indefinite amount of load shedding ahead.
“We at the Electricity Department understand the discomfort, as we too are consumers,” Williams stated.
“However, the department must maintain the position that in order to maximize the productivity of our resources, load shedding must continue until additional generation can be returned to service. As the situation has now evolved to being so volatile, please be aware that the electricity can go at any time.”
