Customers in Petite Martinique can look forward to increased electricity reliability with the commissioning, this week, of a new 240 kW Caterpillar generator.

The new engine arrived in Petite Martinique in mid-July. As part of the commissioning process, on Tuesday, 15 September 2022 a planned island-wide outage in Petite Martinique facilitated electrical interconnections.

This new engine will replace the 160 kW Cummins Engine, which is no longer able to meet the load requirement due to growth in customer demand for electricity in Petite Martinique.

Wallace Collins, Grenlec’s Manager in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, says the Company’s nearly $200,000 investment in this new generating unit will significantly improve the reliability of the Petite Martinique Plant.

He explains that the new engine, which will serve as the primary generating unit, also supports the anticipated growth in customer demand.

Expressing his appreciation to customers for their understanding during the installation period, Stephen Logan, Plant Supervisor, highlights the significant benefit to customers of the reduction of outages related to plant maintenance.

The 204 kW Caterpillar, which has been the work horse of Grenlec’s Petite Martinique Plant, will be overhauled and will provide redundancy during periods when maintenance and repairs are being done on the new engine.