-to increase reliable capacity
The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Incorporated yesterday inked a contract with the Wartsila Company that will see 15.68 megawatts being added to the existing 20.7 megawatt plant at Kingston. Speaking to the Government Information Agency (GINA) at the company’s Duke Street office, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bharrat Dindyal said that the signing of the contract, valued at approximately US$18M, marks the conclusion of negotiations between the two companies.
“We have agreed that the plant will be completed and handed over to GPL at the end of August, 2011,” the CEO said.
The relationship between GPL and Wartsila dates back to 1992, with the first such Plant at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara, and has strengthened over the years. To date, the company has installed 68.7 megawatts of Wartsila capacity, which continues to perform extremely well.
“We have a very good and extensive track record and we expect that this relationship will grow as we continue to rely on Wartsila engines for our Demerara system,” Dindyal noted.
Vice-President, Wartsila Caribbean Inc., Rodney George, assured that notwithstanding the challenges in the project in terms of delivery, they will be working diligently to meet the August 31 deadline.
“We are committed, together with GPL, to meet that deadline; it not going to be easy, but we will spare no effort in meeting that goal,” George said.
As it relates to the benefits to be derived from this project, Dindyal said, “We are increasing our reliable generation capacity by a further 15.6 megawatts; currently we have an overall capacity of about 88 megawatts, but only 64.7 of that is reliable capacity in Demerara. With an increase in the reliable capacity, we are further strengthening our position to improve the quality and reliability of supply.”
The intention is to link the West Demerara area to Kingston via a cable.
At present, there is one link between the Garden of Eden power station and Versailles, but the limited capacity has been hindering this process.
In December 2009, GPL installed three Wartsila units at the Kingston power station.