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FM
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GPL’s generation capacity intact but load shedding to continue – Dindyal

September 27, 2014 | By | Filed Under News 
 

The industrial action at the Skeldon Sugar Plant which supplies some 15 Mega Watts (MW) of electricity to the national

GPL’s CEO, Bharrat Dindyal

GPL’s CEO,
Bharrat Dindyal

 

electricity grid, has subsided coupled with the fact that the malfunctioning Wartsila Plant in Kingston is back up, supplying another 36MW, but this does not mean that the load shedding being experienced will become a thing of the past anytime soon.
This was confirmed by Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Power and Light Company, Bharrat Dindyal, who in a brief interview with this publication said that while there is still another generating plant in need of repairs, the main disruptions have been sorted out.
He explained that the Skeldon co-generation plant supplies the grid with about 15 MW while the downed Wartsila plant supplied another 36 MW. Both went down at the same time.
According to Dindyal, the Demerara and Berbice grids consume a peak total of about 101MW while the company’s total generation capacity is an average of 106MW.
This meant that the loss of some 51MW from the grid posed a significant problem.
But Dindyal says that the fact that the generation capacity problems have more or less been resolved does not mean that load shedding will be ceased in the immediate future or any time soon.
He explained that a significant reason why load shedding has to be initiated has to do with the deficiencies in the Transmission and Distribution facilities which will continue to pose a problem until rectified.
He said that load shedding will have to be facilitated as critical repairs are effected to affected areas but noted that the power company is expected to be back up by today, generating electricity to meet the peak demand.
Strikes at the Skeldon Sugar Factory in recent days, have, along with the shut-down of the Wartsila Plant in Kingston led to a number of scheduled load sheddings by the power company.
The power company reported this past week that it was forced to institute scheduled load shedding as a result of the failure of the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) Skeldon Sugar Factory’s cogeneration plant to supply the grid with electricity along with the failure of a turbo charger at one of its Warstila plants in Kingston.
According to the power company, its generation capacity in the Demerara and Berbice Integrated System (DBIS) was significantly reduced since Sunday last, due to a shortfall in expected imported energy from GuySuCo, Skeldon, and the failure of the turbo charger on GPL’s No.3 Wartsila set located at Kingston, Georgetown.
According to the power company, it was unfortunate that the two incidents arose at a time when the No.1 Wartsila generator at the Kingston plant was undergoing a major overhaul.

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Electricity woes and the nation

September 27, 2014 | By | Filed Under Editorial 
 

For some three decades Guyana has been plagued by power shortages. These shortages date back to the days when the country was cash-strapped and could not replace the generators and turbines that had been in place for more than five decades. These generators and turbines were installed when the demand for electricity was minimal.
Georgetown, the capital had to be powered and later the authorities extended the power supply to the lower East Coast Demerara. With the advent of independence the supply of electric power was extended to even more Guyanese until the stage was reached where many households began to take electricity for granted. And that is how it should be in any country since electricity is no longer a luxury.
Gradually the generators collapsed until Guyana was left with a mere output of eight megawatts.  This was the beginning of the power shortage. In fact, things got so grim that at one time there was the fear that the country could have been without power.
The situation gradually improved. Guyana imported engines from Wartsila and Caterpillar generators from Florida but there was never adequate power. Despite the shortfall, the government continued its expansion programme designed to take power to every household along coastal Guyana.
But by then major companies had opted for self-generation. They argued that the supply from the national grid was unreliable and more expensive than if the companies had to generate their own power.
And the power supply was inadequate. The major shipbuilding facility was forced to scale down its operations because it could not get power when it needed it. Canning plants bought by the government could not go into operation simply because there was no power to operate them. These are white elephants to the point that an observer would describe the investment in these canneries as a waste of money.
There have been serious efforts to end the power shortages. Guyana placed the management of the company into foreign hands—Electricity Support Board Inc. –changed the management structures and other things. None worked, and in the end the government had no option but to repossess the power company.
Gifts from the Japanese helped somewhat but were not enough to stop the power outages which, according to the management, were due to the inability of the company to take out those machinery that needed maintenance, when the maintenance schedule had arrived.
The nation expressed some hope when the government installed a 20-megawatt plant at Kingston soon after it had scrapped the steam turbine that had long outlived its usefulness. On the occasion of the commissioning, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, who holds responsibility for the electricity sector, announced that blackouts were now things of the past. He has had to eat his words.
Even when the government installed a second twenty-megawatt plant, the situation has not changed and it is unlikely to remain unchanged for a long while yet.  It is true the extent of blackouts has been reduced but there are blackouts never the less.
There is a massive construction on the western bank of the river where the government is installing another major electricity plant but this has problems. Aspects of the programme are stalling the schedule. It is as though the feasibility studies missed crucial elements of the programme.
Today, we hear that the absence of power from the Skeldon co-generation plant is responsible for the repeated blackouts in both Berbice and Demerara. This is a bitter pill to swallow for many reasons. The amount of power from the Skeldon plant has never been more than six megawatts. The removal of six megawatts could in no way be responsible for the spate of blackouts, some lasting for as long as six hours.
One must wonder whether something else is not amiss. One must also wonder about the out of crop season when the factory might not have the bagasse to power the turbines.
Whatever the case the time is now and has long been so when blackouts should be history in Guyana. If we are to enter the modern world which we say is a must, then the least we could do is guarantee the people a reliable power supply.

FM

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