– contract awarded
THE 50-YEAR-OLD grid that powers Demerara and Berbice will soon be replaced by a modern system after works commence on the stringing of transmission lines from Crabwood Creek in Region Six all the way to Leonora in Region Three. Speaking to the media at a press conference at the Office of the President on July 23, President Bharrat Jagdeo disclosed that a Chinese company has been given the contract for the project which will result in a new grid within the next two years.
The current grid is partly composed of 69 Kilo Volt Amp (KVA) and 13 KVA transmission but with power coming from the cogeneration plant in Berbice and soon from the Amaila Falls Hydropower plant, President Jagdeo said there is need for a transmission main along the coast with a certain level of efficiency.
The modern transmission main will also be accompanied by a fibre optic cable which the President said will be an effective mechanism to “catapult Guyana into the future.”
Hauwei Technologies, China ’s largest networking and telecommunications equipment supplier, will be responsible for the stringing of this fibre optic backbone which President Jagdeo said will run the distance of Crabwood Creek, Pomeroon and Linden .
Representatives included the company’s President Guan Jun, Senior Consultant Bu Shi, General Manager Stephen Guo and Solutions Manager Peng Zhao Yong met President Jagdeo in May.
With this mechanism in place Government intends to introduce a number of new initiatives such as collaboration with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) to introduce a YFI system that will support the plan to provide Internet access to all households at a cheaper rate, particularly to low income households.
“We are hoping to give almost every poor family in Guyana a computer and if we have the modern grid and internet access then our kids will not be left behind,” President Jagdeo said.
On May 10 Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh and now outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Zhang Jungao signed a concessional loan agreement from the Export-Import Bank of China (China’s Eximbank) of RMB 270 M (US $39.6M). The loan provided at a low rate of interest will be expended on an Infrastructural Development Project for GPL.
Apart from upgrades in the transmission system the project will see the construction of seven new substations at Georgetown, D’Urban Backlands, Diamond, Good Hope, Mahaica, Versailles, Edinburgh and upgrades to Onverwagt and Sophia.
A new 20.7MW Kingston Power Plant consisting of three 6.9MW Wartsila turbines was commissioned last December, adding 30 percent to the generating capacity of the Demerara network. (GINA)