By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
(Basseterre, St. Kitts) – The weeks of load shedding that resulted from the Oct. 2 fire at the Needsmust Power Plant on has officially ended, Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Dr. Earl Assim Martin said. Speaking at a press conference at the Needsmust Power Plant Conference Room on Nov. 13 to update the country on the present state of the electricity supply, the Utilities Minister said that they are now operating with a sufficient capacity of megawatts to end the load shedding. However, he did indicate that there may be sporadic interruptions in the electricity supply because of ongoing work on repairs at the power plant since the fire. “There is no need for further load shedding in St. Kitts, that is to say that we are now beyond our maximum in terms of what we would need for our peak hours and beyond that has provided us with that opportunity to stop the load shedding at this moment. But, I must quickly and swiftly indicate that though we are up to capacity there are times due to technical difficulty, be it in the field, be it in the area of transmission or generation, that there will be some loss of power on certain feeders,” Mr. Martin said. Mr. Martin said that the increased megawatt capacity has to do with the rental of generators that went into operation last week that have added an extra seven megawatts. The Mirrlees 8MB 430 was repaired, commissioned on October 22, and returned to service adding extra megawatts. Work on the Mirrlees 12MB Generator that was the most significantly damaged continues. The rental of the generators for a six month period will cost the government US$2.4 million. The report into exactly what caused the crankcase explosion at the plant is still being investigated and a report will be forthcoming in weeks.
