Despite the delay in the arrival of transformers and generators to boost GPL’s power generation capacity, Prime Minister Mark Phillips assured that they will arrive in time for installation just before Christmas.
He told the Sunday Stabroek that from his understanding, the generators will arrive just in time for the festive season and that the government is on track.
“I was informed of a few setbacks, however, no need to worry it will arrive just in time for the Christmas season, we are on track, we are on track,” the Prime Minister said.
According to sources, the equipment which was purchased from Apan Energy in Honduras at a cost of some US$27 million, is expected to arrive in the country on December 15.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, had recently told this paper that the equipment which was originally slated for arrival on November 22 had encountered shipment delays.
“The engines and all of the accessories are coming on one boat … directly to Guyana. The transformers came from China, everything is on its way to Guyana but different components are landing at different timings,” Indar had told Stabroek News.
“We asked what caused the delay and I was told that there were some issues where some of the transformers, apparently encountered a shipment delay,” he added.
Amid rising blackouts and increased consumption, Guyana Power and Light (GPL), procured 17 reconditioned containerised generators worth US$27 million from Honduras which will produce 28.9 Megawatts (MW) of power and will be installed in time for Christmas.
Both the government and GPL have been criticised over the load shedding that has occurred in recent weeks and the emergency recourse to the reconditioned carbon fuels sets.
At a press conference held recently, Indar assured that GPL will be able to satisfy the current electricity demand when it commissions the 17 power generators.
“These additional units will significantly boost the capacity of the power company to meet the current demand,” the minister told the media.
At the press conference held in November, Minister Indar had stated that the power utility could not meet the current peak demand of 172 megawatts as one of its sets with a generating capacity of 7.8 megawatts was offline to facilitate a major overhaul.
“Right now, in the country over the last week, we have seen the peak demand of about 172 megawatts. So, we have 167 [megawatts], the country demands 172 [megawatts], peak demand. So, because of that shortfall, we see some blackouts. When the problem started, the peak demand was 184.5 megawatts, it was bigger, the shortfall was bigger, we see the peak now reducing,” Indar had told reporters at the press conference.
While GPL is anticipating an average peak of around 236 megawatts by 2024, the subject minister also informed that the power company has already received unsolicited offers from individuals with capacity and proposals. According to him, those offers will be carefully evaluated to meet the growing demand in 2024.
GPL Executive, and Management Committee member, Kesh Nandlall, a few months ago told this newspaper that these generators are going to be located at Plantation Columbia where the utility is currently engaged in preparatory works.
The Columbia station is in the Mahaica/Mahaicony area and the generators will feed into the Demerara/Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS).
Nandlall had explained that the generators were the Hyundai brand and were “very mobile units”.
Putting their use into context, he explained that they were “17 containerized units which we can also use at other locations, given they are easily moveable, as a backup generation, should the need be. For now, they are going to be stationed at Plantation Columbia.”
Questioned about the rationale for purchasing reconditioned units instead of new ones, and if the company was getting value for money, Nandlall had said that the decision to buy the units was a sound one as an assessment was done before the purchase.
