South Rivers Power Station back on line

Operations at the South Rivers Hydro Power Plant recommenced on Wednesday, March 5, 2014. The station was put back on line after being out of commission for the past two months as a result of damages from the December trough system.{{more}}

The successful restart of operations follows two months of rehabilitation work by VINLEC’s technical team, which included clean -up of the intake and reconstruction of a section of the pipeline.

An earlier attempt to recommission the South Rivers Plant was made in January, but a blowout on the pipeline caused a setback, according to the company. The broken pipeline caused flooding to the power station and the company was required to repair the broken line and clean and repair the equipment. The plant is currently operating at a capacity of 600 KW.

Meanwhile, VINLEC says work continues at the other locations. One station at the Cumberland Power Plant, which consists of three run of the river stations, is functional. Operations at the Cumberland 1 station recommenced in January and the station has been operating at full capacity for the past six weeks.

Efforts to rebuild a section of the woodstave pipeline at Cumberland 3 are ongoing and should be completed by mid-March. Upon completion, it is anticipated that electricity production at that station will recommence. The company is working towards having all of the stations at the Cumberland Plant operational by April of this year.

Meanwhile, sections of the damaged pipeline at the Richmond location have been dismantled in preparation for repair work. The company is evaluating various options for rebuilding the severely damaged infrastructure. VINLEC is also currently making the necessary arrangements to commence clean-up operations at the intake during this month. The company is also using the opportunity to upgrade the turbines and generators at the Richmond station during this down period. This work is part of an earlier plan to upgrade the station.

VINLEC is working towards having all rehabilitation work completed by the end of 2014, so that the company can have its hydro operations fully functional. VINLEC’s hydroelectric facilities traditionally contribute an average of 18-20 per cent of the electricity generated annually.

The company is currently subsidizing the fuel surcharge rate in the absence of its hydroelectric plants. In February, VINLEC’s subsidy to the fuel surcharge rate was 11.76 cents per unit, a total value of 1.3 million EC dollars.