Chinese demanding US$3.5M more for

US$42M GPL upgrade contract

The US$42M upgrade to the Guyana Power and Light Company Inc. (GPL) transmission and distributions system could see the Government having to spend an additional US$3.5M.

GPL’s CEO, Bharat Dindyal

This was confirmed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Power Company, Bharrat Dindyal, who made the disclosure during a site visit at the brand new generation plant being built at Vreed-en-Hoop.
The Chinese contractor has made claims for the additional monies to be paid to them and according to Dindyal, not making these payments has seen a delay in the project.
Dindyal told members of the media that the contractor is claiming that because the payments have not been made, they are experiencing cash flow problems.
To date works have only been completed at two stations, Kingston and Sophia.
Dindyal said that the contractor’s large claim stems from the unavailability of poles.
The Linden unrest in 2012 has also been cited as a factor in the delay of poles, given that they could not be shipped out of the interior.
This he said has led the Chinese Contractor to claim an additional US$3M that it wants the company to pay.
He said too that the contractor was allowed to import pine poles from overseas.
Some 600 pine poles have been erected along the East Coast Demerara and according to Dindyal, the Chinese contractor is now also claiming an additional UD$432,000 for importation.
He said that the matter is currently gaining the attention of the company.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who was present at the time of Dindyal’s statement, joined in and said that “while we seek to maximize local input of poles there are certain risks.”
He did indicate that to the extent that government was insisting on the use of local poles thereby delaying the importation of the pine poles from the US, “we will have to carry some amount of responsibility.”
Substations are being built to serve areas including Vreed-en-Hoop and Edinburgh on the West Coast of Demerara, North Ruimveldt, Sophia/Liliendaal, Good Hope, East Coast Demerara, Columbia, Mahaicony East Coast Demerara and Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara.
The project is a collaborative effort between the Government of Guyana, GPL and China, through a concessionary loan of US$38.96M from the China Export-Import Bank (Eximbank).

The Good Hope Substation

This amount is supplemented by US$3.9M for preparatory works, including route clearing, site preparation and backfilling to above 2005 flood levels.
The programme entails the construction of seven new substations; expansion/upgrade of three existing substations; construction of approximately 96 km of 69 kV transmission lines, including a link between the Demerara and Berbice Interconnected Systems; 2.1 km of submarine cable; the construction of a new central control centre with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) capabilities, and installation of 251 km of fibre optic cable.
The power company said these developments will result in improved quality of supply, system stability, improved voltage regulation, and reduction of technical losses.
The new 69 Kva Sophia substation, built under the Infrastructure Development Programme (IDP) is considered to be the nerve centre for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL.) This was successfully connected in July last year to the national grid.