A FAULT along the 69kv transmission line linking the Kingston Power Station to the Sophia Substation (Dispatch centre) resulted in the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System shutting down on Wednesday afternoon. However, service was restored within 30 minutes of the disruptions, the Guyana Power and Light has said. Power outages have been frequent in recent days. “Our company offers reassurance to the general public that meticulous efforts and resources are being directed towards establishing the origin of this occurrence and we plead for patience,” GPL said in a statement.
Across in Bartica, the company said today it will commence effecting repairs to the No.10 generating set at our Bartica Power Station with an expected duration of thirty (30) hours and likely completion on Friday, October 21, 2016 at noon. These corrective works are necessary to prevent total failure of the generating sets and capacity. Consequently, available generation will be significantly reduced by a further 800kw as the No. 11 Generator remains offline for major maintenance, thus necessitating an unfortunate outage to the entire township with the exception of customers on First Avenue between 3rd and 9th Streets, from 06:00 hrs on October 20 to 13:00 hrs October 21.
The remaining operational generator (No. 12) with generating capacity of 500kw will remain in service during this period to dispense power within the power station and customers within proximity of the station for the execution of works. We are urging the citizens of Bartica to prepare amply for this regrettable extended period of outage while we work to restore electricity.
In Essequibo, GPL said customers of Fairfield experienced an extended outage from 14:00 hrs on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday, while emergency repairs were ongoing on the No. 6 Generator.
Meanwhile, a six-hour load-shedding exercise was initiated for customers stretching from Anna Regina to La Union from 06:00 to 12:00 hrs on Wednesday and subsequently rotated to customers from Lima to Charity from 12:00hrs to 06:00 hrs due to the unavailability of the No. 1 Generator for urgent remedial work. According to the power company, it is envisioned that its Essequibo operations will return to a state of normalcy on or before Friday October 21. “It is with deep regret that our company has experienced a plethora of unfortunate occurrences in these areas of service delivery. We take this opportunity to reassure customers that we consider our mandate to this nation to be of vast substance and our officers work tirelessly to provide quality service. We remain cognizant of the inconvenience these power disruptions cause and we express sincerest regret. Customers are encouraged to visit our website at www.gplinc.net and GPL Inc. Facebook page www.facebook.com/GPLIncorporated/ for updates as they become available.”