– GPL deputy chief executive officer

THE Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Incorporated is aiming to provide better quality services and as the Christmas season approaches, the company is looking at activating a 30-megawatt dual- engine generator by December.

This is according to Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Strategic Operations), Samaroo Ramtahal, who said this Christmas will be brighter if all plans go as expected.
According to Ramtahal, by April 2021, GPL is looking to add another dual-engine generator for the Garden of Eden power plant; that generator has the capacity to add 46.5 megawatts to the system.

“Over the last five years there was little investment in generation and some of the generators we have are beyond their useful life, so some are beyond the 20 years lifespan. We are struggling with the old system and we are looking at the supply and demand,” he said.
Currently, he noted that the supply is 130 megawatts of available capacity and the peak demand is around 125 megawatts; but the spare capacity, known as the ‘spinning reserves,’ is very low for the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System.

Typically, he said the power companies in the Caribbean have a 35 per cent reserve, but Guyana has only five per cent.
“What that means is whenever there is a problem at any one of the locations with the generator, the system will go off because we can’t balance supply and demand; hence, that is why we are seeing the frequent blackouts, although we have other transmission and line- distribution problems,” he said.

As such, the deputy chief executive officer said an additional five megawatts of power from the Giftland Mall will be obtained through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Personnel are currently on the ground working on the connections and GPL expects to see the project completed by month-end.
This will bring much-needed relief and mitigate blackouts for thousands of residents on the East Coast corridor.

The Giftland system has a 6.7-megawatt output capacity. However, it uses only 1.6 megawatts during prime operations.
The DCEO said since his appointment, he has uncovered a number of inconsistencies in the company’s management.

“I’m there for just two weeks, but I’ve discovered [that] over the last four to five years, investment to generation was under five per cent, [which is] merely seven megawatts,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the best option to reduce the cost of power in Guyana is to utilise the natural gas offshore from the oil-and-gas sector.
“In two years from now we are hoping to commission a 200-megawatt generator with natural- gas fuel,” he said.