Last Updated on September 10, 2019, 1:49 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The St Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC) on Sunday night announced a series of planned outages following discovery of damage to the largest generating unit, during routine maintenance.
In an official statement issued by SKELEC, it has confirmed that to prevent severe equipment failure unit has to be taken out of service. However, to ensure generating capacity additional generators will be brought from the outside.
The statement further state that on September 7 during routine maintenance on the largest generating unit at the Needsmust Power Station, engineers discovered damage to the unit that could lead to severe equipment failure. In order to execute repairs and prevent further damage, the unit will have to be placed offline for up to 14 days.
Repair work has already begun and SKELEC has also sought additional assistance from regional and international partners to fast track repairs. Additional generators have also been procured ahead of schedule in light of the recent breakdown. The additional units are expected to be on island and installed within two weeks,” the statement said.
SKELEC informed that while repairs are being done and the additional units are installed, it may become necessary to commence a series of planned outages to mitigate against the loss of generation capacity.
The planned outage schedule is attached below and shows the days, times, areas to be affected and the duration of each service interruption. This schedule goes into effect from September 9th.
SKELEC apologizes for any inconveniences that may be caused by these series of outages and we value our consumers’ patience and understanding as we seek to be proactive in this regard. Updates on the progress of the repairs and planned outages will be given as necessary on all forms of social and traditional media.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
