With the grand opening of a new substation and a solar power farm on St. Croix, the territory moved closer to leaving behind fossil fuels Monday.
Largely to address line loss due to the long distribution feeders from the Estate Richmond Substation to the western end of the island, the V.I. Water and Power Authority began building a substation in Estate Spanish Town in July 2013. The substations are linked by a 69kv transmission line, installed underground from the Richmond Substation to the Willocks Substation. This is the first true transmission circuit in V.I. history and will allow WAPA to expand its load in the future, according to WAPA
WAPA dedicated the substation in memory of Gregory E. Willocks during Monday’s ribbon cutting ceremony. Willocks began working with the authority in 1979, and held several key positions throughout his career at WAPA, including director of water production and distribution, deputy assistant director and assistant executive director. He was instrumental in helping WAPA to return to full functioning capacity after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, as well as ensuring that the authority received one of the first large capacity waste heat recovery boilers at the Estate Richmond Power Plant on St. Croix.
“The impact of Greg’s distinguished achievements will be an important part of a legacy at WAPA … and this well-deserved honor commemorates his many years of dedicated service to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority,” Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr. said at Monday’s ceremony.
Hodge presented a plaque to Cheryl Willocks, Willocks’ widow, on behalf of the WAPA family, with Willocks’ mother Claudia Willocks, his daughters Gregoreese, Tyhae and Lae-Thea, and many other members of his immediate and extended family present. Cheryl Willocks helped to cut the ribbon on the Willocks Substation, and to unveil the permanent monument at the entrance to the facility.
In August 2013, WAPA and Toshiba broke ground for the territory’s first solar farm, also in Estate Spanish Town, next to the new substation. Toshiba began building the 4MW facility in May 2014. In July, NRG Energy acquired the solar farm from Toshiba. It which sits on 17 acres in Estate Spanish Town, connects directly to the new Willocks Substation and is estimated to produce over 8.5 million kWh. At an annual average of 4800 kWh per household, it will provide power to some 1800 households.
“Like several of the other green energy initiatives the authority is pursuing, this project will help to lower energy costs for our customers,” Hodge said. “From this day forward we will no longer be able to say we are 100 percent dependent on fuel oil for power generation," he said.
In his remarks at Monday’s ceremony, Gov. John deJongh Jr. applauded WAPA’s efforts to achieve the territory’s renewable energy goal and to bring relief to customers. “We had a vision of where we wanted to go and how we wanted to get there … and we will definitely reach our goal of 60 percent reduction in fossil fuel use by 2025,” deJongh said.
DeJongh congratulated the Willocks’ family and reminisced about Gregory Willocks, remembering it was during deJongh’s tenure as the chairman of the WAPA Governing Board that Willocks was appointed assistant executive director.
These two new facilities symbolize only the beginning of several milestones, according to WAPA. By year end, a 4.2MW solar facility in Estate Donoe will be completed, and by the end of first quarter 2015 the authority’s power plants will be converted to use propane to produce electricity.
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With the grand opening of a new substation and a solar power farm on St. Croix, the territory moved closer to leaving behind fossil fuels Monday.
