By Admin. Updated 10:01 p.m., Sunday, June 9, 2024, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
The St. Vincent Electricity Services Limited VINLEC has provided an explanation for the second consecutive islandwide power outage in a week.
In a June 9 press release, the State-owned company and sole commercial supplier of electricity said the outage experienced on June 9 and the one experienced on June 2 were caused by an insulation failure on VINLEC’s 33kV switchgear at the Lowmans Bay Power Plant.
“Today, 9th June, 2024, a service interruption affected all VINLEC customers on mainland St. Vincent. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Restoration efforts were initiated immediately, and power was
successfully restored to the entire island within two hours,” the company said.
“We recognize that the outages experienced today, 9th June, and last week, 2nd June, were caused by an insulation failure on VINLEC’s 33kV switchgear at the Lowmans Bay Power Plant. Despite these challenges, our system’s built-in redundancies allowed us to isolate the affected area on the switchgear, ensuring the continuity of island-wide operations,” the company added.
VINLEC said: “This morning’s island-wide outage was specifically triggered by a switching procedure
related to internal repairs to a section of the switchgear. We are currently awaiting parts
from our suppliers to complete other aspects of the repairs”.
“It is important to note that this is the first time VINLEC has encountered an insulation
failure with one of our switchgears that is unrelated to external factors like floods.
Switchgears are the backbone of our electrical network, and we assure all customers that
resolving this issue is our top priority,” the company said.
“VINLEC’s dedicated teams continue to work on restoring any lost redundancies, and we are committed to maintaining a stable electricity supply to all customers until the final repairs of the switchgear are completed. We deeply appreciate the patience and understanding shown by our customers as we work to resolve this matter promptly,” the company added.
VINLEC says on its website that it officially took ownership of the Lowmans Bay Power Plant in 2007. The generating capacity was 8.7 megawatts (MW). At that time the Plant provided just over 30 percent of power on mainland, St. Vincent.
In 2011, the Lowmans Bay Power Plant was officially commissioned as part of activities to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary.
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