— as numerous blackouts cause PM, Junior Public Works Minister to intervene

NUMEROUS power outages prompted a meeting among Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar and the top management of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), where it was highlighted that the company’s fault identification system will be upgraded.

Following the meeting on Tuesday, the Prime Minister explained that the Government opted to engage GPL amid the numerous reports of the frequent power outages, or ‘blackouts’ as they are more commonly called, over the past weekend. These occurred primarily on the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara.

“We are aware that GPL is doing some extensive repairs to the transmission and distribution system and that is the main reason for the outages,” the Prime Minister related.

He, however, lamented that the transmission and distribution system languished since it was not consistently maintained over the past five years. As such, he explained that much corrective, maintenance work is now necessary.

To provide some redress to citizens while GPL engages in the necessary maintenance work, Prime Minister Phillips highlighted that a stronger public relations effort will be made so that the maintenance schedule and the reasons for some of the power outages would be communicated.

Importantly, also, Minister Indar highlighted that intermittent issues with GPL’s transmission are expected since the company’s transmission lines are old. Exacerbating the issue, he reminded, is that GPL does not have redundant lines.

Due to this, if there is an issue with one part of the transmission line, there is no ‘backup’ line to allow the flow of electricity to continue.

Additionally, he noted that GPL does not have a system that allows it to capture which neighbourhood has a fault. Resultantly, he explained that the electricity company would not be able to identify which specific area has the issue and is in need of restoration, unless members of the community report the issue.

WORK TO CORRECT

“That is something we have to work to correct so that the neighbourhood fault is known by GPL so that the crew can come out right away and deal with it,” Indar underscored. It is expected that upgrade of the fault identification system will result in speedier restoration processes.

He also noted that as per the current system, when there is an outage, GPL crew members would be required to check each post on the distribution line to find the issue that needs rectifying. According to him, GPL has about 276KM of primary line and about 784 KM of secondary lines.

“It is a time-consuming thing when they have to go rectify and respond to these outages, so what we are trying to do is fix it so that you don’t have to have these number of outages and then react to them because the reaction basis takes longer,” Indar noted.

GPL’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bharat Dindyal supported the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister, highlighting that the distribution system requires a certain volume of maintenance each year but there is an accumulation of maintenance.

“We need to get back to a stage where we are doing enough maintenance to maintain the performance of the line in a satisfactory level,” the CEO stressed.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the company’s Board, Maurice Gajadhar assured that the company was tending to the issues “vigorously” so that the more than 200,000 customers would be ably supplied.

“We’re trying to change the system whereby you don’t have to call the Minister or the Prime Minister or myself to get something fixed,” Gajadhar asserted.

During an interview with the Guyana Chronicle in December, last year, Minister Indar said that it is expected that by next April, GPL’s new 46.5MW at Garden-of-Eden power plant will be commissioned. Further improvements are also expected in the transmission and distribution system, to build redundancy at the 69 kV and 13.8 kV levels.

MUCH-NEEDED RELIEF

The upgrades to GPL’s system will bring much-needed relief to thousands of citizens but this is not the only area through which the Government is hoping to upgrade, in order to improve power generation and supply.

The 2021 National Budget contains allocations of $240 million for the Sustainable Energy Programme; $628.8 million for the Renewable Energy Improvement Power System Project; $750 million for the Energy Matrix Diversification Programme; $500 million for the Solar System Project; $125 million for the Small Hydro Projects; and an estimated $202.5 million has been allocated to Hinterland Electrification.

Additionally, an estimated total of $3.1 billion has been allocated to power companies across Guyana: $172.5 million for Lethem Power Company, $490 million for Kwakwani Utilities Inc., $2.3 billion for LINMINE, $30 million for Mabaruma Power Company, $50 million for Mahdia Power and Light, $10 million for Moruca Power and Light, $15 million for Matthew’s Ridge Power and Light and $50 million for Port Kaituma Power and Light.

“Our Government will now work assiduously to implement the necessary measures that will result in improved standard of living for our people through the generation and provision of sufficient, stable and reliable power,” the Prime Minister had emphasised during his presentation to the House in the recent Budget Debate.

He also reminded that the Government’s vision for the future of energy provision in Guyana includes the addition of over 400MW of newly-installed capacity and a reduction in the cost of energy by at least 50 per cent through provisions from a mix of energy sources that include hydropower, natural gas, solar and wind.