The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) yesterday said that at approximately 10.23 pm on Friday, the L2 and L5 Transmission lines linking the Golden Grove to Sophia and Sophia to Kingston Substations respectively tripped causing blackouts in Demerara and Berbice
GPL said that at that time, both lines were transmitting a total of approximately 34 Megawatts (MW) of generation This sudden loss of generation caused a cascading effect on the grid which resulted in several generating units going offline, GPL said. Consequently, service to customers in Demerara and Berbice was disrupted.
GPL said that its teams immediately commenced restoration efforts and at approximately 10.41 pm the first area in Demerara was repowered. Incremental restoration continued until all areas in Demerara and Berbice were repowered at approximately 11.52 pm.
The utility said that its Technical Team is conducting comprehensive checks on the L2 L5 and Transmission Lines and Substations (Sophia and Golden Grove) and added that it remains cognisant of the inconveniences associated with unplanned service interruptions and “continues to work assiduously towards eliminating these occurrences”.
GPL has come under increasing scrutiny over power failures of this type as they are occurring despite significant outlays to improve the transmission and distribution system and to isolate faults so that that they don’t bring down large areas.
The matter is of growing importance considering that the planned gas to shore project is expected to deliver a huge amount of energy to GPL for distribution.
