Operations

Power Stations
 
VINLEC owns and operates Power Plants on the islands of St. Vincent, Bequia, Union Island, Canouan and Mayreau. The system on mainland St. Vincent system has both diesel and hydroelectric generating stations. There are two diesel generating stations located at Cane Hall and Lowmans Bay, while the hydroelectric generating plants are located at South Rivers, Richmond and Cumberland.
 
Cane Hall
 
Work on the Cane Hall Power Station commenced in the early 1970’s. It was officially opened in 1976. The Station has eight diesel electric generating units and the capacity to produce 19.66 MW. The Cane Hall Engineering Complex, located a few meters away, houses some solar systems which have a total PV capacity of 224 kWp.
 
Lowmans Bay
 
The Lowmans Bay Power Plant is the Company’s modern state of the art facility. It has a capacity of 17.4 Mega Watts and provides approximately 60% of all power generated on mainland St. Vincent. The ground breaking ceremony for this facility took place in 2005 and the plant was officially handed to VINLEC in February of 2007. The Plant also houses a small solar PV farm which was officially commissioned 2014. It has a capacity of 370 kWp.
 
South Rivers (Hydro)
 
The South Rivers Plant was the first hydroelectric installation to be built in St. Vincent. This is one of three Hydropower Plants in the country that collectively produce approximately 18% -20% of the electricity generated annually. It entered service in 1952 with two 275 kW Turgo impulse units and a third 320 kW machine was added in 1958. The total nominal installed capacity of the plant is 870kW. Rehabilitation work to upgrade the facility was undertaken in 2016. The works were completed in August 2018; the nominal capacity is now three units rated 320kW each.
 
Richmond (Hydro)
 
Officially opened in 1962, the Richmond Hydropower Plant was built to facilitate the expansion of electricity to rural areas in St. Vincent. This run of river plant houses two Turgo impulse turbine generator units of 550 kW output each. The station has a nominal capacity of 1100kW. Rehabilitation work on the Plant started during 2014 in an effort to increase the input from the Station. The work was completed in 2016.
 
Cumberland (Hydro)
 
Officially commissioned in 1987, the Cumberland Hydro Plant comprises three separate run of the river Power Stations and a total of five units. This facility is the most recent addition to the St. Vincent hydraulic system. The stations are served by a series of diversion weirs and pipelines. The station’s capacity is currently 3,650kW.
 
Bequia
 
The Bequia Power Station was officially commissioned in 1968. It is located at Ocar and provides power to two thousand five hundred customers. The Station presently houses six high speed stationary diesel generator units and has a combined installed capacity of 4,145kW.
 
Canouan
 
In 1994, a 1080 kW Power Plant was commissioned in Canouan. At the time, the Plant produced power to 220 customers. The Canouan Station now provides electricity supply to just over one thousand customers and has four high speed stationary diesel generator units. These have an installed capacity of 4,040kW.
 
Union Island
 
The Union Island Power Station was commissioned in 1974. The Plant has four diesel units and provides power to just over one thousand two hundred customers. On the Power Station compound, there is a battery energy storage facility which was officially commissioned in March 2019. This PV system has an installed capacity of 600.3 kWp.
 
Mayreau
 
VINLEC's generation plant, which is located in Saline Bay, was commissioned in 2003 and serves one hundred and thirty-four customers. There is a hybrid system used on the island to produce electricity. VINLEC uses diesel engines to generate electricity and there is also a solar photovoltaic (PV) and Battery Storage system which was installed in 2019.