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.