Jan. 9, 2009 — St. Croix's new money-saving waste heat recovery boiler is delayed and it may be six more months before it comes online, the V.I. Water and Power Authority announced Friday.
The heat recycling generator, the second of its kind for the island, will reduce fuel consumption and improve efficiency in the Richmond plant by capturing the energy normally exhausted into the air from two gas turbines and recycling it to generate steam for water and power production. The steam-recovery boiler generates more than half as much electricity as the original boiler, essentially getting a 50 percent boost in the power generated by a gallon of fuel.
The delay in commissioning the unit could be as much as six more months, based on scheduling forecasts issued by Islands Mechanical Contractor, the installation contractor responsible for bringing the project to mechanical completion, WAPA Executive Director Hugo V. Hodge Jr. said in the WAPA release.
WAPA officials say they are cautiously optimistic IMC will be able to shorten the delay and continues to work with the company to identify where timeline adjustments can be made without jeopardizing the integrity of the project, Hodge said. Many factors have caused the schedule revisions but delays in delivery of materials have been the most significant contributor, project coordinators have told WAPA.
Boiler components manufactured in Korea, Thailand and China, stacks and ductwork from Italy, and major electrical equipment from Brazil and Mexico were delayed by as much as three to four months due to problems with raw materials availability and international shipping coordination. Late or lost delivery of steam piping, control valves, pipe supports, pumps, transformers, high voltage cable and instrument systems of three to five months have not been uncommon. Interruptions from Hurricane Omar and an accident involving a crane leased by IMC also contributed schedule delays, according to a WAPA.
Hodge said putting the boiler into commercial operation in the coming months is a top priority for his technical team and while contingency plans allow for some delay, their magnitude has been of major concern. But there have been no major costs overruns, he said. The project, costing $36 million, was funded through a $57.5 million bond issued in 2007 to support a five year capital improvement plan.
WAPA operates one other heat recovery steam generator in the Richmond Plant and one in St. Thomas’ Harley Plant which save the utility more than $12 million in fuel costs annually based on current fuel prices, and considerably more if prices return to the levels seen over the past year and a half.
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