Wärtsilä Power Plant Will Supply 100 Percent Of The British Virgin Islands' Electricity

Wärtsilä will supply an extension to the Pockwood Pond Power Generating Station in the British Virgin Islands, owned by the British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation (BVIEC). The extension consists of two Wärtsilä 9L46 gensets, the related auxiliaries and a new power house, delivered on a turn-key basis. The gensets will run on light fuel oil with a combined output of 17 MW. After the extension and the concurrent retiring of two old units, the capacity of the power plant will be 50 MW. The project is scheduled to be delivered in late 2016.

“The project will add much-needed baseload capacity to the islands. The demand for electricity is growing significantly because of several new industrial and infrastructure projects,” said Leroy A.E. Abraham, CEO of BVIEC.

The first two Wärtsilä gensets were installed at the Pockwood Pond site in 1995. Since then, the power plant has been extended to accommodate four gensets which were added two at a time. After the new extension the power station will comprise a total of eight Wärtsilä units. “There is an option in the contract with Wärtsilä for one more unit. We will probably need it within one year of commissioning this new extension,” Abraham said.

“This project showcases the modularity aspect of Wärtsilä’s Smart Power Generation power plants. Units can be easily and quickly added according to the demand. It is also a story of customer loyalty and the reliability of our technology – we will soon be powering the entire territory”, said Edmund Phillips, Wärtsilä’s Business Development Manager.

After the decommissioning of the power station’s two non-Wärtsilä units, 100 percent of the electricity consumed in the British Virgin Islands will be produced by Wärtsilä’s technology. The Pockwood Pond Power Generating station, located on the main island of Tortola, serves all of the 11 islands with sub-marine cables.

Wärtsilä’s installed capacity in North America and the Caribbean region is approximately 7300 MW. This contract was included in Wärtsilä’s order intake in Q1 2015.