Power Plant Operators undergo advanced training

Power plant professionals from the St Vincent Electricity Services Ltd (VINLEC), and the Mustique Company Ltd, Utilities and Renewable Energy Department, have concluded the final stage of training in Power Plant Operation.

The advanced training course ‘Power Plant Operators Level 3’, which ran from August 27 to 31 trained workers in the use of the latest technologies to efficiently control the systems that generate electricity.

The course included a comprehensive look at how Diesel Power Plants operate, and focused specifically on: Combustion and Generation, Circuit Breakers, Synchronous Machines, Transformers, and the introduction to a modern system, Programmable Logic Controls (PLC).

Facilitator, Dr Tagore Ramlal, Senior Instructor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, expressed his pleasure at the receptiveness and enthusiasm of the participants. Especially to the PLC, which is an industrial digital control system, adapted to ensure the efficient running of the Power Plants. Ramlal explained that he introduced two software modules, Logic Pro for PLC and the use of the multi-slip. He disclosed that participants now understand the use of all the meters in the control room, and can interpret what each meter is relaying.

The training concluded with a short presentation ceremony on August 31, followed by a tour of VINLEC’s Lowmans Bay Diesel Power Plant.

Participants were operators, assistant operators, and fitters from power plants across St Vincent and the Grenadines where PLC systems are utilized.