Setback for Efficient Power in St. Thomas: Wartsila Project Completion Delayed by 2.5 Months

Completion of the much-touted Wärtsilä project, which would introduce more efficient power generation to the Randolph Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas, has been pushed back two and a half months, said Water & Power Authority CEO Andrew Smith during this week’s meeting of the Public Services Commission (PSC).

Scheduled to come online at the end of last month, the new date for “first fire” is now June 13, Mr. Smith said, following communication lapses with the supplier. Initially, first fire date had slipped to April 4th, but then “the timeline got cagey...Wärtsilä stopped being responsive to when we were actually going to get first fire," Mr. Smith said.

That prompted the WAPA CEO to get on the phone, Mr. Smith said, upon which representatives “fessed up” that there was a supply chain issue, pushing back the date the generators can come online.

Mr. Smith told the PSC that there had been a few “pointed conversations” with Wärtsilä as a result of the communications snafu, as he – and WAPA by extension – have made commitments to the PSC, other agencies and the public. “That lack of communication to me was very troubling,” the WAPA CEO noted.

Despite the setback, WAPA is prepared to engage its own network in attempting to procure the necessary parts, once Wärtsilä provides the necessary specifications. On a call with the vendor last week, Mr. Smith says he was informed by the Wärtsilä team that they would be escalating the issue in an attempt to source the needed components directly from the manufacturer rather than trying to find other third-party sellers.