Atauro Island

Atauro Island is 30 km north of Dili, off the coast of Timor Leste and is part of Timor Leste. Vila is the main town and has a population of over 2,000. The power lines extend out from here to power the villages of Bikeli and Beloi on the east coast, but not to the whole island.

A Daytime Generator for Atauro Island

GenerAide proposes to secure a 500 Kva generator for Vila, Atauro Island for daytime power generation. The daytime power generator has not run for 3 years. It is a non-operational 350 Kva Cummins unit that overheats and has contaminated oil issues that cannot be rectified.

It is recommended that the electrical feed out cables be upgraded to allow for an even larger generator in the future to service future growth and power needs.

Daytime Power Generation

People from all over the Island come to Vila for their medical needs and major shopping requirements. There are a number of schools and churches in the district that require power during the daylight hours as well for cooling fans. To have a replacement daytime generator would be a huge advantage to all people connected to the current power lines.

Nighttime Power Generation

The night generator is a 850 Kva generator tasked with the night-time power generation on the island. Though this unit has a lot of hours on the hour run meter, it is still serviceable and not in need of replacement presently. It operates between 8:30pm and 6:00am daily, supplying lighting and essential services to the district

When GenerAide conducted a site audit in 2019, the night generator had been out of service for the Christmas – New Year duration, meaning there was no power at any time of day over this period. GenerAide were pleased see it was repaired prior to Dan and Isaac leaving the island.

Challenges of a Project on Atauro Island

The logistics of getting a generator to Atauro Island is challenging in itself.  However, GenerAide is experienced in providing services in remote areas. GenerAide are proposing the new containerised generator set be placed on a barge in Dili along with a small crane which would sail to Atauro Island. Upon arrival the crane would then unload the generator from the barge and travel with it along the road to Vila where it would remove the unserviceable unit and place the new one in position. GenerAide is presently working on support within Timor Leste to assist with this task.

Regular Servicing and Maintenance

GenerAide owns a shipping container fitted out as a workshop complete with tools that it plans, in the future, to send to one of the Centro St Bakhita Leeuwin Care team’s compounds to be re-stocked regularly with diesel filters, oils and any other spare parts needed to keep generators and pumping stations throughout the region in good running order.

Workshop and Training

GenerAide owns a shipping container fitted out as a workshop complete with tools that it plans, in the future, to send to one of the Centro St Bakhita Leeuwin Care team’s compounds to be re-stocked regularly with diesel filters, oils and any other spare parts needed to keep generators and pumping stations throughout the region in good running order.

This containerised workshop will also be of value when training locals welding, fabrication and other skills required to keep their community’s generators and associated equipment in serviceable order.

GenerAide commits to ensuring the work teams are properly supervised and no works outside their skill level are carried out until licenced electricians are available for final terminations and commissioning.