– PM charges company to alleviate power outages

By Navendra Seoraj
GUYANESE have been in the ‘dark’ for far too long because of inefficiencies in the services offered by the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) but Prime Minister, Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips, has demanded that there be a concerted effort to alleviate power outages, even if it means purchasing power from Independent Power Producers (IPP).

Purchasing power from IPPs is an idea which was considered many times in the past but the project seems closer to fruition as GPL will be advertising for “expression of interest” from persons who have the capacity and are willing to sell power which would be added to the national grid.
This decision was made following a meeting among Prime Minister Phillips; Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar; GPL Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Albert Gordon, and other officials of GPL, on Tuesday.

“The issue of private investment in the energy sector is an important one if GPL is to make the kind of progress that is required to solve some of those generation problems,” Programme Manager for Energy and Head of the Energy Unit at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, Devon Gardner, had said in a past report.
“If GPL was able to focus on transmission and distribution a lot more and allow the private generators to generate and sell to them, then they would be able to focus on what utilities typically do, which is figuring out how to move the electricity from where it is being generated to the demand centres,” Gardener had advised.
As it is now, the national grid is providing 120 megawatts of electricity, an amount which is equal to the consumer demand of 117-120 megawatts of power. This leaves no room for reserve power, said Minister Indar following the meeting on Tuesday.

“If any generator goes out and it falls below that (120 megawatts), you will have blackout… the demand and output are the same… any mechanical failure will lead to a blackout,” said Minister Indar.

It is to this end that a decision was taken to purchase power from IPPs as their power would add to the grid and reduce power outages.
“We want to see what is there in the private sector to add to the grid so that we could have backup power,” said Indar.

The coastal generation of power is largely handled by Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated (PPDI), which is also state-owned, and contracted to operate and maintain the power plants on behalf of GPL.

PPDI is responsible for a total electrical output of 106.7 megawatts within the Demerara to Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS), sourcing from four power plants, namely Garden of Eden (22 MW), Kingston #1 (22MW), Kingston #2 (36.3 MW) and Vreed-en-Hoop (26.4 MW).

“GPL and the capital programme for adding the generating capacity system was neglected for five years. Only three Caterpillar systems were added to the system in five years, aside from the 46.5 megawatts of power being done for April 2021,” Minister Indar lamented.

The utility company had sought to improve this system and acquire more power early this year through private producers, but that project never materialised. GPL was expected to source power from MCG Investments Inc., owner of the Giftland Mall, as the Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) between the two companies had been signed, but there was no progress on this.

A critical issue was, however, identified during the discussions between GPL and IPPs. There were technical and legal constraints regarding the sourcing of power from IPPs, as GPL’s licence restricted the utility company from purchasing power from entities other than an IPP which produced power from renewable energy sources.
In September 2019, the former government had begun the process to amend that section of the GPL licence, opening the door for more IPPs to come on board.
Even though there was not much talk after this, the new administration seems to be firm in their decision to purchase power from private suppliers.

Minister Indar said GPL has a solid plan for the short and medium term, but implementation and funding are issues which need to be addressed.
GPL’s plan was also recognised by Prime Minster Phillips, who said: “GPL has plans in the short, medium and long term to have reliable electricity for all the people of Guyana, and expand the electricity.”

REDUCE IT
In the short-term, the main concern is reliable electricity and zero power outages, said the prime minister, who has since directed GPL’s CEO to ensure that there is a reduction in power outages from now to the first quarter of 2021, and then further into the future.

He has advised Gordon to take all the necessary steps to ensure that there is reliable electricity and a reduction in power outages.
The prime minister pointed to the immediate step of purchasing power from IPPs, noting that this step will help to curb blackouts in Guyana.
“We want to end blackouts… but, in all fairness, GPL is a victim of poor planning by the previous administration… there are many projects which should have started before now, but we are prepared to face the problems and direct energies towards fixing those problems,” Gordon said.
He has since given the assurance that he will do everything to ensure that power outages are averted.

GPL was expected to acquire power generating sets worth US$41 million but Gordon said the supplier of the sets experienced challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the sets were being manufactured in Italy, but because that country was hit hard by the pandemic, manufacturing was shifted to Finland.
The new generator sets will add 46 Megawatts (MW) in total to the DBIS but it expected until 2021.