Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) CEO Bharat Dindyal recently told Columbia, Mahaicony residents that they should expect a superior quality supply of electricity as operations at the soon-to-be-commissioned substation will be manned by the high-tech Sophia Control Centre.
“I am proud, that in my lifetime, we can see lights in all their glory and that new development has finally reached your doorsteps,” Dindyal Was quoted as saying at a second community meeting with residents held at the Fairfield Community Centre.
According to a GPL news release, the CEO recalled that it was in 1987 when he became acutely aware that the West Coast Berbice areas were plagued with chronic low-voltage and had started to trace the history of expansion projects only to realise that the proposed transmission line between Onverwagt and Sophia never came to fruition.
Thirty years later, after construction started in 2012, he said GPL is finally commissioning a facility in the community that will transform the quality and reliability of power in West Berbice which will be sourced from East Berbice and Georgetown, according to a press release.
The $600M investment, funded from the US$39M loan provided by the China Import/Export Bank has the capacity to deliver power for the next 20 years, Dindyal said. The state-of-the-art substation “has a very sophisticated computerised control system that does not require anyone to be on the premises, but will be controlled from Sophia.”
Dindyal also said the Sophia Control Centre would regulate the power supply for every village from Georgetown to Columbia.
The CEO also cautioned residents that their electricity bills are likely to increase as consumption increases when they start receiving stable power supply.
A team of GPL officials then fielded a number of questions from residents before the meeting closed.
