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GUYANA Power & Light (GPL) Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bharat Dindyal said the decision to acquire a new generator, which arrived last week , was taken following a major mechanical failure of the number three set of the Wartsila plant at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara. 
He added that the failure that occurred in February last year, was significant enough to make repairs uneconomical and an assessment of the damaged unit and a look at the cost of repairs found it was as much as the price of a new engine.
Dindyal explained that it was then decided to get the replacement which will be installed today at the same location.
He said GPL is hoping that, by mid-February, it will go into commercial operation to restore the 22 megawatts and increase overall capacity in Demerara to 80 megawatts.
Dindyal also stated that maintenance works were done on the other engines at Garden of Eden.
The new Wartsila engine arrived on January 22, at the John Fernandes Wharf, on Water Street, Georgetown, and its offloading was overseen by GPL’s Divisional Director, Mr. Elwyn Marshall.
He said the 5.5 megawatts unit was procured at a cost of US$2.1M.
“This engine will replace the one that failed in January 2011, bringing the plant back to its full capacity of 22 megawatts,” Marshall said.
He said it should be fully operational by the middle of next month, having been put down on the existing foundation.
The electricity generated by the Garden of Eden plant is being fed into the Demerara grid, but the absence of the one engine did not create any shortfall in the system, because backup systems were put in place to meet the demands.
He added that the failure that occurred in February last year, was significant enough to make repairs uneconomical and an assessment of the damaged unit and a look at the cost of repairs found it was as much as the price of a new engine.Dindyal explained that it was then decided to get the replacement which will be installed today at the same location.
He said GPL is hoping that, by mid-February, it will go into commercial operation to restore the 22 megawatts and increase overall capacity in Demerara to 80 megawatts.
Dindyal also stated that maintenance works were done on the other engines at Garden of Eden.
The new Wartsila engine arrived on January 22, at the John Fernandes Wharf, on Water Street, Georgetown, and its offloading was overseen by GPL’s Divisional Director, Mr. Elwyn Marshall.
He said the 5.5 megawatts unit was procured at a cost of US$2.1M.
“This engine will replace the one that failed in January 2011, bringing the plant back to its full capacity of 22 megawatts,” Marshall said.
He said it should be fully operational by the middle of next month, having been put down on the existing foundation.
The electricity generated by the Garden of Eden plant is being fed into the Demerara grid, but the absence of the one engine did not create any shortfall in the system, because backup systems were put in place to meet the demands.
