RESIDENTS in several communities in Regions Three, Four, Five and Six could expect a better quality of electricity supply following the upgrade of more than 500 kilometres (km) of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL)’s distribution network.
Some 830 km had been identified under the company’s Power Utility Upgrade Programme (PUUP) for infrastructural upgrades. The project is currently in its second phase – “Lot B”, which covers the upgrade of approximately 220 km across 87 communities.
Works are currently ongoing in Meten-Meer-Zorg, Tuschen, Zeeburg, Vergenoegen, and Parika in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), and Tain, Clifton and John Settlements in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne)

The first phase of the project “Lot A” covered the upgrade of 361km of the network across 89 communities in Regions Three, Four, Five and Six, and included works in Patentia and Goed Intent on the West Bank of Demerara; Tucville and Guyhoc Park in Georgetown; Ogle, Plaisance, Beterverwagting, Mon Repos, Lusignan, Annandale, Melanie Damishana, Bachelor’s Adventure, Ann’s Grove, Nabacalis, Clonbrook, Bee Hive and Supply on the East Coast Demerara; and Overwinning, Winkle Road, Angoy’s Avenue, Williamsburg, Hampshire, Grant 1803 and Grant 1802 in Berbice.
“The GPL’s PUUP completed a total of 581km of distribution network with focus on the reduction of overall electricity losses and the improvement of safety and reliability of the system,” shared Chitra Singh, PUUP’s Social Management Coordinator.
She added: “From the 581 km, 361 km were successfully completed under the Lot A that involved 89 communities whilst 220 km completed under Lot B, which is on-going in 87 project areas.”

The project has a third phase, “Lot C” during which 31 priority areas will be targeted.
The infrastructural upgrade is one of three components of the PUUP, the other two being the “Strengthening of GPL’s Management Capabilities” and the “Operational Efficiency”.
The infrastructural upgrade is aimed at rehabilitating GPL’s aged distribution networks in several communities and includes the upgrade of conductors, transformers, service lines and post and paid meters among others. These upgrades are expected to provide customers with a better quality of power which can sustain the life expectancy of customers’ electrical appliances, reduce voltage fluctuation and eliminate faulty connections.

The $4.6 billion contract for the execution of the PUUP was awarded to China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation/China Synergy Electric Engineering Company (CMC/CSEEC), with the local sub-contractor being Ramoutar and Sons Contracting.
Residents across the country would have seen contractors putting up new poles for the distribution network upgrade, and seen the installation of new conductors.
The upgrade is expected to see approximately 47,000 customers’ service being upgraded to facilitate the use of smart meters.
The general objective of the programme is to enhance GPL’s operational efficiency and corporate performance, as part of preparations for it to supply electricity in a sustainable manner over the long-term.

The move to upgrade the system came about after it was discovered that GPL was incurring exponential commercial and technical losses. In 2010, GPL’s Loss Reduction Unit had recorded 19.5% of commercial losses and 14% of technical losses.
It was determined that “weaknesses in the distribution network not only increased technical losses due to low capability to handle the distributed energy, but [it] also hindered the implementation of focused efforts to reduce commercial losses”.
In 2014, the government secured US$64 million in financing for the initiative through funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as well as non-reimbursable investment financing from the European Union (EU).