Aerial shot of WAPA's Richmond Power Plant. By. ERNICE GILBERT FOR VI CONSORTIUM
ST. CROIX — WAPA said Friday that it may implement a short-term rotating power schedule on St. Croix this afternoon and into the evening as operational challenges continue at the Richmond Power Plant.
The authority said plant personnel are troubleshooting and will make repairs to generating Unit 19 which has been sidelined since Thursday afternoon. “Without Unit 19, and with Unit 20 on a scheduled maintenance regimen, the plant’s capacity is limited to the solar generation from the Spanish Town solar array, Unit 17, and the Aggreko rental units,” said WAPA CEO Lawrence Kupfer.
According to WAPA, Mr. Kupfer explained that the available generators and the solar facility provide more than 40 megawatts of capacity. When solar is not available, the capacity is limited to 40 megawatts and customer’s service demand during the peak period is slightly higher. “When the demand exceeds available plant capacity, there is a shortfall resulting in a service interruption,” he said.
WAA said a tentative schedule for short-term rotating outages has been developed and will only be called on should a generation capacity shortage occur. “So far, we have done well today, the solar farm has provided a steady source of generation, however, as the afternoon wears on, and solar energy becomes limited, the anticipated increase in demand for electrical service will likely require an outage.
The tentative schedule is as follows:
- 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm – customers on Feeder 6A in service interruption
- 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm – customers on Feeders 3A/10A in service interruption
- 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – customers on Feeder 4A in service interruption
- 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – customers on Feeder 10B in service interruption
- 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm – customers on Feeder 2A in service interruption
“I assure all residents of St. Croix that our personnel are working as safely and as quickly as possible to address the mechanical challenges with Unit 19 which, once restored, will allow the plant to meet the demand for service,” Mr. Kupfer said, apologizing for any inconvenience the short-term outages may cause customers.
