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| Mr Paul Lockhart Planning and Scheduling Manager Transmissions and Distribution of the Grand Bahama Power Company speaks with Oswald Browne, Operator at the control room of the Prospect Power Plant in Nevis. |
CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (July 28, 2005) -- Just over 100 regional engineers and their associates visited Nevis on Wednesday to take a first hand look at the power services provided on the island and to attend a reception in their honour at the Old Manor Hotel in Gingerland.
The group formed part of the Caribbean Electric Utility Service Corporation (CARILEC) Conference for utility engineers, which was co-hosted by the Nevis Electricity Company Ltd.(Nevlec) and the St. Kitts Electricity Department at the Marriot Royal Beach Resort.
During the visit Nevlecs Public Relations Officer Mr. Jervan Swanston told the Government Information Service that the conference was a success and one of the largest staged by CARILEC.
Mr. Swanston disclosed that for the first time in the history of the annual conference, suppliers were allowed to showcase their products. Participants were afforded the opportunity to meet with 26 suppliers in attendance who they have been engaged in business with over the years. So it was all good, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Victor Poyotte CARILECs Executive Director who accompanied the group to the Prospect Power Plant rated the annual conference a highly successful one, based on reports he had received from the participants.
He explained that their visit to Nevis on the final day of the conference was part of a tour, usually an aspect of the annual conference, where participants visit the host utility wherever the conference is held. The visiting party had earlier visited the Needmust Power Plant in St. Kitts before taking the ferry to Nevis.
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Mr. Victor Poyotte Executive Director of the Caribbean Electric Utility Service Corporation |
According to Mr. Poyotte, the three day conference dealt with a number of issues relating to transmission, distribution, generation, renewable energy.
In fact one of the presentations we had late this morning (Wednesday) was about what we call the clean development mechanism, how we can earn revenue from transfer of credits or the sale of emission credits.
The other aspect dealt with presentations from a number of the utilities in terms of their own development. For example: we had a presentation from the Barbados Light and Power with the development of their new power station at Spring Gardens in Barbados. We had presentations from LUCILEC on reliability. We had presentations from Nevis on Value based reliability distribution planning. And then we also had a presentation from the General Manager of the St. Kitts Electricity Department on progress being made by the department itself.
So I think all in all we had a broad section of presentations from the utilities and the associate members, he said.
Mr. Poyotte disclosed that in his organisation had just concluded a regional bench mark study that Nevlec participated. The study identified areas of strength and weaknesses and he was hopeful that the utility would act on the areas where it identified needed attention.
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Regional utility engineers and some of their associates visit the Prospect Power Plant in Nevis. |
The CARILEC Official noted that his organisation involves 30 electric utilities from Bermuda in the north to Guyana in the south. At present he said, CARILEC had a membership of about 87 including associate members drawn from manufacturers, distributors and consulting firms providing services to the electric utilities in the Caribbean.
Annually, CARILEC conducts five to seven conferences and 40-50 training courses in addition to technical surveys and studies following which, Mr, Poyotte indicated that reports are prepared and circulated among the membership.
Notwithstanding, Mr. Poyotte considers the most important activity his organisation is engaged in the provision of hurricane restoration assistance. So if Nevlec has all its lines down after a hurricane and they call on us to assist we mobilise our resources from all the other utilities, send they linesmen help with equipment and so on to assist them in bringing back the lines as soon as possible, he said.
