History Of The BVIEC

 

BVI Electricity Corporation – Going Places – 1950’s To 1970’s

 

From its initial start with private/public autonomous and individual producers of electricity, the government owned public electricity supply was established in the 1950’s. The heart of the generation plant, if one would call it that, was a 20 KW generator, which provided six hours of service and supplied 63 consumers between Government house and the Methodist church cemetery.

Between 1950 and 1970, Electricity expanded on two fronts. The generating Station at Long Bush was built and expanded from an initial three 60Kw units supplying 18 hours of service to 210 customers of the Road Town area to 3 medium speed 1.2MW generators and a 13.2KV bus bar system. By the end of the 1970’s, service had been extended to East End Long Look as well as the following Residential areas:

Cane Garden Bay, Harrigans, Frenchman’s Cay, Beef Island, West End, Zion Hill, Paraquita Bay, Sophie Bay, Hodges Creek, Doty, Ballast Bay, Green Banks, Ridge Road, Brewers Bay, Little Dix, Pleasant Valley.

 1970 – 1989

Between 1970 and 1990 The Corporation continued to expand its generating capacity in order to meet the growing demand of its customers. From the initial 3 - 1.2 MW sets that were installed at long bush in 1970, the corporation added an additional 12 generating sets over the two decades.  By the end of the 1980’s The Corporation had expanded in the following ways:

 

  • The distribution network was extended throughout the territory and included Sub sea links to Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke as well as a Power Station on Anegada offering 24 hours service.
  • The company went from a department under the direction of Government to an autonomous statutory body. This was completed on May 23, 1979 when the Government Electricity Department was changed to the British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation.
  • The purchase of the PockWood Pond site for the building of a new Power Station, in 1986.
  • The signing of the various letters of acceptance for the PockWood Pond Project in 1988 at the consultants’ office, K&D, in England.
  • The total number of active consumers jumped from 1,829 in 1970 to 6,347 at the end of 1989.

The major setbacks during the two-decades were: 

 The loss at sea of two 1 MW sets that were to be used to meet ongoing demand. 

 Tropical Storm Klause in 1984 and Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which did considerable, damage to the distribution system and made the cost of insurance skyrocket.   

 The delays in completing the PockWood Power Plant and the higher than expected growth which led to load shedding as the Corporation tried to keep pace with demand. 

1990 and Beyond 

1990 saw the commissioning of the PockWood Pond Power Station with two 3.1 MW Merles Engines in September. In 1995, two additional 4.5 MW Stork Wartisla Engines were commissioned bringing the total installed capacity of the plant to 15.2MW. Additionally, a desalination plant with the capacity to produce 220,000 gallons of water per day utilizing the waste heat from the 4 engines was commissioned by the Corporation.  

The station was expanded again in 1999 – 2000 and 3 - 6.1MW Rolls Royce engines were installed. This brought the total installed capacity at the station to 33.5MW. Although the engines experienced connecting rods and other problems during the initial runs, they have been providing the majority of peak demand for the past six months. Peak demand has hovered around 21 MW during the second half of 2002.On the Distribution side, the 34.5KV transmission line was extended to Virgin Gorda and a modern substation was constructed at Fischer’s Cove.

Currently The Corporation is going through a midlife crisis as outside investors have been brought in to investigate the possibility of entering into some type of partnership agreement. The journey has only now begun. As we look forward to improved customer relationships, reliability of plant, focused, goal oriented, empowered, employees and visionary management, the future history of the corporation is being written daily as it plays its part in the continued economic development and quality of the territory.


2005 British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation.