MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South Georgia turns self sufficient with hydro energy

Inside the power station

Since last mid December South Georgia's two settlements Grytviken and King Edward Point (KEP) have been powered by hydro electricity reports the South Georgia Island Newsletter.

The first hydro power from the new station was produced for a short test session on December 6th, by the 11th it was running all day, and when the Morrison International Ltd team (who installed the new plant) left the Island on December 15th, hydroelectricity was running. It is more than two years since work started to refurbish the dam at Gull Lake. Originally built by the whalers at the turn of the XXth century, the dam increased the capacity of Gull Lake to feed water to the first hydroelectric power plant in 1914. The electricity produced then was mainly used for lighting the whaling station. The plant was beefed up in 1928 to reduce the station's reliance on imported coal for steam to power the factory. The electricity produced was then used to power winches and other factory equipment. Little is left of the old hydro works other than the dam. The new turbine house has been built on the site of the old whaling station radar/asdic workshop. New penstocks were also installed to feed water from the lake above to the new power station. South Georgia newsletter describes the new power station as very quiet: the main sound is the water pouring out from under the building through a grating and into a short watercourse to the sea. Visitors can look in through two large windows in the Turbine House and see the machinery inside. However the switch to hydropower has had a few hitches. Vital spares were hand-carried from the UK and put aboard cruise ships to get them to South Georgia as quickly as possible whilst the commissioning agents were on site. A new boiler installed in the boatshed at KEP is not working well with the new power source and will need further work when the Morrison International Ltd. team arrives back in March. Meanwhile the three technical staff on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) team at KEP has had a busy time dealing with glitches and keeping a close eye on the new hydro plant in its first few days of full operation. In 1985 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands became a distinct UK Overseas Territory with a Commissioner as head of the Government. It had previously been part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies. The South Georgia Government team is based in Stanley in the Falkland Islands at Government House. More info please visit: South Georgia Island Website