– on new Bartica power plant

THE brand new 3.3 megawatt power plant built in Bartica by the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), at a whopping $700M cost, has missed its intended April commissioning.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that while the general construction works have been completed, some technical works are still to be done.

The new engines are expected to bring better customer service to residents. “It’s a new plant equipped with three 1.1 megawatt engines. We also have new switch gears, and did some upgrades to the transmission and distribution network,” Project Engineer Julian Reddy explained.

The new location, at Dagg Point, Agatash, has enough space for further expansion hence, GPL has also decided to build a wharf so as to better facilitate the logistics of trucking fuel to the plant.

Mayor of Bartica, Gifford Marshall, had described this project as the “single most important” one that Bartica would have seen in the last 10 years.

He pointed out how the new plant will also positively affect the housing sector. “We know that this new power plant will have the capacity to meet those demands. So it’s an excellent project; one that we are eagerly await the commissioning of, and we know that it will transform the economic landscape of Bartica.”

Over the last decade or two, Bartica has experienced severe load-shedding, thus affecting the town’s business community, health and education sectors. “Almost on a daily basis, we had poor power supply. Now, with this, we have reliable power and will see expansion and greater efficiency in all of these affected sectors. We will also see more persons coming to invest,” Marshall expressed.

Marshall said the funding is not coming from a direct loan but through taxpayers’ money. “We are very grateful to central government for the investment in the power company,” he said.

Over the years, GPL saw that the existing plant in central Bartica was constantly plagued with maintenance issues, and then decided it was time to replace the old generators with new ones. “We’re looking to commission the plant in the first quarter of this year, by April,” Reddy had told this publication on site, adding, “We will now have better reliability and low maintenance.”

The current GPL site is said to be heavily polluted. “We’re talking about land, air and water because a lot of waste oil comes from that old generator that is there and it pollutes the drains, and by extension, the river,” Marshall explained.