WAPA Gives Wärtsilä Another $10 Million

Virgin Islanders have been promised for several years that their high Water and Power Authority rates will be reduced when new power generators go online. The problem is the main project keeps getting delayed.

The project to install four nine-megawatt Wärtsilä engines and a nine-megawatt battery energy storage system on St. Thomas was initiated in November 2021. Plans were for the four units to be operational last summer.

Governing Board members learned Thursday that the completion day could still be a year away.

Board member Maurice Muia did not want to hear that. Muia, who has been on the board since March, wanted a completion date.

WAPA manager Chavante Marsh presented a new Wärtsilä agreement that adds $10 million to its cost and extends the date for the contract until the end of next May. She said the deal had several deadlines, and Wärtsilä would receive incentives if the generators came online early. The board approved the new deal without the “drop dead” finish deadline Muia had requested. Marsh said there was a possibility the generators would come online at the end of December. Muia had suggested that as a “drop dead” date.