President commissions 15.6 MW expansion to Kingston Wartsila station -- says Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project will lift country’s clean energy use
Written by Johann Earle
Wednesday, 28 September 2011 02:24
Source - Guyana Chronicle
President Bharrat Jagdeo taking a tour of the control room of the new Kingston Power Station yesterday.
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo said that with the potential for growth in Guyana’s economy, even the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project may prove insufficient to supply the power demand in the future.
He spoke yesterday at the commissioning of the 15.6 megawatt expansion of the Kingston Wartsila Power Plant. The two new Wartsila generators had come into the country in May at a cost of about US$20M, and supplement three slightly smaller Wartsila generators totalling 20 megawatts.
Speaking to the gathering, President Jagdeo said that the demand for power has grown significantly and some of this has to do with the Government’s turning around of the economy.
He said that the demand must be met or else growth could be retarded and the legitimate expectations of the people could be stymied.
He said that the Government had no small feat on its hands in replacing the entire base load capacity from the time the present government took office in 1992. Further, he said that the government had to address the drag that fuel purchases for power became on the treasury.
“Today, GPL pays its way,” he said, adding however that Government has made, and will continue to make, capital investments and support the power utility company.
“The recovery process is a pleasing one for me,” he said. He added that apart from the short term interventions needed to add capacity, the government is ensuring it plans for the long term, referring to the Amaila Falls Hydro Electricity Project.
“Our strategy on electricity is aligned to the Low Carbon Development Strategy,” he said, adding that the project was important not only for the reduction of Guyana’s carbon emissions reduction, but also for saving Guyana much needed revenue in terms of oil purchases for power generation. He said that with the project, the country will not be as exposed to the volatilities of oil price movement.
CEO of GPL Bharat Dindyal speaking to President Bharrat Jagdeo during a tour of the new power facility at GPL Kingston yesterday.
The president said that as the world moves towards penalising high carbon emitting activity, the cost of commodities such as oil will further escalate. He said that with the estimated cost of the hydro project being in the neighbourhood of US$835M, the project will be feasible and pay for itself in about 20 years, given the present amounts spent on oil procurement for power generation.
The president said that it is a huge project for Guyana and it will deliver the results expected. He said when the project is completed, about 95 percent of Guyana’s power will come from it, making this country among the top, if not the top, country in terms of power supplied by renewable means.
He said that the government continues to make investments in the electricity sector and spoke of the hinterland electrification drive which will see some 11,000 families being provided electricity service through the use of solar panels in the near future.
Prime Minister Sam Hinds said that when the present government took office in 1992, it immediately set about to make changes to the electricity sector. He said that while the name Wartsila was not known at the time, the government, then headed by President Cheddi Jagan, decided to go with the untested brand.
He emphasised that government has always been concerned with addressing the electricity needs of the people of Guyana while looking for ways to be more climate friendly. He said that the hydro project will insulate Guyana against rising fuel costs.
An overhead view of the new station compound at Kingston.
Chairman of GPL, Winston Brassington, said that the two projects – the 20.7 megawatts installed in 2009, and the 15.6 megawatts just installed at Kingston – total over 36 megawatts of new power added to the national grid in a matter of months. He said that these two projects represent an investment of US$50M by the government for which the company was grateful. He said that the good thing with the new generators is that they use heavy fuel oil, instead of diesel.
He explained that in 2007, the company had a fuel mix of 52 percent fuel oil and 48 percent diesel, while in 2010; the mix was 80 percent heavy fuel oil and 20 percent diesel. He said that had the company maintained the 2007 fuel mix, it would have spent an additional US$25M on fuel.
The GPL Chairman said that there was an acceleration of new application for service in 2010 and the company is projecting that in five years’ time, there will be another 25,000 households added to the grid.
The chairman said that even with the improvements in efficiency, the positive gains from changes in the fuel mix and other improvements, the company is finding it difficult to maintain tariffs at the current levels, given that it was since the end of 2007 that the company last had a tariff increase.
Touching on loss reduction, Brassington said that the Government of Guyana has supported loss reduction measures. He said that in 2003, technical and commercial losses amounted to 44 percent of power generated. But by 2010, this was reduced by 31 percent or so. He said that the efforts at reducing losses are more of a challenge than first envisaged.
CEO of GPL, Bharat Dindyal, said that even with the latest additions to the grid, the power company still does not have significant reserve capacity. He added that with the expansion of the plant, the available power capacity in the system is just over 100 megawatts. He said that further development in the sector will see reliability being strengthened in the network and customers exposed to faults reducing.
The CEO said that in a short while, additional transformer equipment is to arrive in the country to add greater capacity to the system.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 September 2011 02:40 )
Written by Johann Earle
Wednesday, 28 September 2011 02:24
Source - Guyana Chronicle
President Bharrat Jagdeo taking a tour of the control room of the new Kingston Power Station yesterday.PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo said that with the potential for growth in Guyana’s economy, even the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project may prove insufficient to supply the power demand in the future.
He spoke yesterday at the commissioning of the 15.6 megawatt expansion of the Kingston Wartsila Power Plant. The two new Wartsila generators had come into the country in May at a cost of about US$20M, and supplement three slightly smaller Wartsila generators totalling 20 megawatts.
Speaking to the gathering, President Jagdeo said that the demand for power has grown significantly and some of this has to do with the Government’s turning around of the economy.
He said that the demand must be met or else growth could be retarded and the legitimate expectations of the people could be stymied.
He said that the Government had no small feat on its hands in replacing the entire base load capacity from the time the present government took office in 1992. Further, he said that the government had to address the drag that fuel purchases for power became on the treasury.
“Today, GPL pays its way,” he said, adding however that Government has made, and will continue to make, capital investments and support the power utility company.
“The recovery process is a pleasing one for me,” he said. He added that apart from the short term interventions needed to add capacity, the government is ensuring it plans for the long term, referring to the Amaila Falls Hydro Electricity Project.
“Our strategy on electricity is aligned to the Low Carbon Development Strategy,” he said, adding that the project was important not only for the reduction of Guyana’s carbon emissions reduction, but also for saving Guyana much needed revenue in terms of oil purchases for power generation. He said that with the project, the country will not be as exposed to the volatilities of oil price movement.
CEO of GPL Bharat Dindyal speaking to President Bharrat Jagdeo during a tour of the new power facility at GPL Kingston yesterday.The president said that as the world moves towards penalising high carbon emitting activity, the cost of commodities such as oil will further escalate. He said that with the estimated cost of the hydro project being in the neighbourhood of US$835M, the project will be feasible and pay for itself in about 20 years, given the present amounts spent on oil procurement for power generation.
The president said that it is a huge project for Guyana and it will deliver the results expected. He said when the project is completed, about 95 percent of Guyana’s power will come from it, making this country among the top, if not the top, country in terms of power supplied by renewable means.
He said that the government continues to make investments in the electricity sector and spoke of the hinterland electrification drive which will see some 11,000 families being provided electricity service through the use of solar panels in the near future.
Prime Minister Sam Hinds said that when the present government took office in 1992, it immediately set about to make changes to the electricity sector. He said that while the name Wartsila was not known at the time, the government, then headed by President Cheddi Jagan, decided to go with the untested brand.
He emphasised that government has always been concerned with addressing the electricity needs of the people of Guyana while looking for ways to be more climate friendly. He said that the hydro project will insulate Guyana against rising fuel costs.
An overhead view of the new station compound at Kingston.Chairman of GPL, Winston Brassington, said that the two projects – the 20.7 megawatts installed in 2009, and the 15.6 megawatts just installed at Kingston – total over 36 megawatts of new power added to the national grid in a matter of months. He said that these two projects represent an investment of US$50M by the government for which the company was grateful. He said that the good thing with the new generators is that they use heavy fuel oil, instead of diesel.
He explained that in 2007, the company had a fuel mix of 52 percent fuel oil and 48 percent diesel, while in 2010; the mix was 80 percent heavy fuel oil and 20 percent diesel. He said that had the company maintained the 2007 fuel mix, it would have spent an additional US$25M on fuel.
The GPL Chairman said that there was an acceleration of new application for service in 2010 and the company is projecting that in five years’ time, there will be another 25,000 households added to the grid.
The chairman said that even with the improvements in efficiency, the positive gains from changes in the fuel mix and other improvements, the company is finding it difficult to maintain tariffs at the current levels, given that it was since the end of 2007 that the company last had a tariff increase.
Touching on loss reduction, Brassington said that the Government of Guyana has supported loss reduction measures. He said that in 2003, technical and commercial losses amounted to 44 percent of power generated. But by 2010, this was reduced by 31 percent or so. He said that the efforts at reducing losses are more of a challenge than first envisaged.
CEO of GPL, Bharat Dindyal, said that even with the latest additions to the grid, the power company still does not have significant reserve capacity. He added that with the expansion of the plant, the available power capacity in the system is just over 100 megawatts. He said that further development in the sector will see reliability being strengthened in the network and customers exposed to faults reducing.
The CEO said that in a short while, additional transformer equipment is to arrive in the country to add greater capacity to the system.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 September 2011 02:40 )
