…on fact-finding mission to fix power outages

EXPRESSING disappointment over the constant power outages to have hit the country in recent times, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson on Tuesday announced that he will be conducting a fact-finding mission to ascertain the causes and possible solutions.
On Monday, at approximately 18:45hrs, a cable at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Vreed-en-Hoop Power Station caught fire, triggering a shutdown of the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System.

This resulted in Georgetown and villages along the East Coast, East Bank and West Bank of Demerara being plunged into darkness, along with other areas. In a statement on Tuesday, GPL said restoration efforts commenced at 18:55hrs and power was restored to affected areas by 20:00hrs on Monday, with the exception of a section of the West Bank of Demerara, from Versailles to Vriesland. Electricity in those areas was expected to be restored by 19:00hrs on Tuesday.

Monday’s electricity woes came days after the same Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) had suffered an interruption in service due to a fault on the breaker of the F6 Feeder on August 4. Responding to a series of questions based on the power outages, Minister Patterson told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that he will be visiting the power stations to ascertain first-hand what interventions can be made to restore the situation to normalcy. This, he noted, will be done during the parliamentary recess with the aim of finding solutions. Based on reports coming out of GPL, the issue remains with the transmission and distribution lines, he posited. “Over the years our transmission and distribution line has deteriorated. I keep saying this and I don’t want persons to think that we know the problem and should be addressing it. It’s still functional and can transmit electricity very efficiently, but we should be able to isolate the disturbances,” the Public Infrastructure Minister explained.

In other instances, it is difficult to identify the troubled area bringing the entire system offline. “Often the team may think they found the problem and put on back the system, only to have to take it off back when they realise they haven’t and this has led to the deterioration of the protection system,” Minister Patterson told the DPI.
It was posited too that the issue is not solely linked to the transmission and distribution lines, but is compounded by non-technical matters, including receiving clearance from the Guyana Revenue Authority and the wharves. The minister explained that new equipment was procured, but is stalled at the wharf awaiting clearance.

“I met with the staff of Guyana Power Light Incorporated (GPL); they’ve explained the issues they have, such as manpower and those equipment that have been ordered and not coming in [as] quickly as they should. I’m meeting with the board and [will] ensure that they are equipped as fully as possible to address these issues,” Minister Patterson explained.

The minister further explained that GPL is currently financially stable, therefore, monies should be invested towards enhanced generation, so that issues such as tree-trimming and burnt generators will not affect distribution.
In February, 2017, GPL Chief Executive Officer (ag), Renford Homer had disclosed that as a result of a spate of unscheduled blackouts, the power company had planned to spend US$31M for the construction of four new substations.

He had made the disclosure during a site visit at the junction of Lamaha Avenue and Vlissingen Road, where the feeder supplying electricity to Queenstown and environs “kissed,” causing a massive malfunction in the system. Maintenance was done and a high-voltage line was dropped to prevent any recurrence.
Homer had noted that a second transmission line will be built linking the Kingston substation to the Sophia substation for redundant purposes and additional loads that may occur within the system.

Homer said the new substations will be located at Wales, West Bank Demerara, Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, Williamsburg, Corentyne and Hydronie, East Bank Essequibo. He explained that the six substations already within the system will be expanded to produce better voltage stability and reduce technical losses, because power would be travelling across shorter distances.

$17B revenues
Amid the blackouts, GPL has earned revenue totalling $17.0 billion in the first half of 2017, up from $14.7 billion for the same period in 2016, as a result of more timely payments. This is according to the mid-year report that was produced by the Ministry of Finance. The report also states that similarly, expenditure increased from $9.3 billion in the first half of 2016 to $12.6 billion in the same period of 2017. The expenditure increase is driven by the higher cost of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) for which the weighted average cost rose to US$48.70 (for the half year) from US$30.50 as at June 30, 2016. Additionally, GPL has repaid the Government $500 million on the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana (GCRG/GPL) on-lending loans for the first half of the year. The company’s outlook for 2017 has improved, with the budgeted deficit of $5.0 billion now expected to improve to a lower deficit of $771 million.

Despite this improved cash performance of GPL, the report also revealed the company’s technical performance remains plagued with inefficiencies. It shows that the production of electricity increased marginally to 394,832 MWh in the first half of 2017, from 387,864 MWh for the first half of 2016.
Total losses were 29.6 percent ,a slight increase from the half year for 2016, when total losses were 29.3 percent, the report noted.