The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) yesterday said power was set be restored to its Bartica customers by last evening, after it was forced to disconnect a malfunctioning Caterpillar Unit to perform diagnostics and repairs.
In a press release, the company said it had to take the Unit offline, plunging the community into darkness from around 5.30am yesterday.
Due to the rapid increase in demand for electricity in Bartica, GPL had, since last year, added a third generating unit to supplement the two existing ones. However, prior to the power outage yesterday, sections of the community had been experiencing periodic blackouts due to technical difficulties with two units which resulted in the station being unable to meet total power demand.
“Repairs are ongoing on these units and one should be back in operation by Sunday,” the company said, adding that “Two operating units are sufficient to satisfy total demand.” GPL further noted that the third unit will be restored shortly and will be kept on standby.
In a separate incident yesterday, around 9.11am, customers in Lamaha Springs and Park, and from River View and Alexander Village to Nandy Park experienced a power outage due to a damaged high voltage cable. The cable was damaged by contractors removing vegetation on the Sophia Dam. All affected customers were re-powered from alternative sources within two hours, the company said.
GPL apologises for the inconvenience caused.
