DRILLING has recently commenced on the installation of a new 69 kV submarine cable across the Demerara River.
This is a first-of-its-kind transmission crossing that will connect the Kingston Substation to the Vreed-en-Hoop Substation and significantly strengthen power supply to West Demerara, according to information from the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).
The project is ongoing, with works advancing at both the West Demerara and Kingston ends of the crossing.
The Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, accompanied by a Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) delegation led by Executive Management Committee Team Leader, Kesh Nandlall, together with GPL Director Gary Hall and Rafael Nabi of Capital Edge Partners, visited the Vreed-en-Hoop worksite to assess progress on the works.
During the visit, Minister Indar received an update on the drilling operations from Shayne Hicks of HDDT International.
The double-circuit cable will be installed approximately 75 feet below the riverbed using horizontal directional drilling (HDD); this is a trenchless technique that leaves the river and its traffic completely undisturbed.
The project also includes the expansion of both the Vreed-en-Hoop and Kingston Substations to receive and dispatch the additional power, including a new 69 kV GIS installation at Kingston.
WHY THE CROSSING IS NEEDED
“The new cable is a strategic investment in the architecture of the national grid. It will provide a redundant transmission path for power from the gas-to-energy plant at Wales — so that supply to customers can be maintained even if one link is out of service; and it is a cornerstone of GPL’s plan to build a resilient, interconnected grid network for the long term, replacing a river crossing that is decades old and limited in capacity,” GPL said.
The investment comes as electricity demand grows strongly across the system: consumption in West Demerara has risen from 25 MW to 41 MW in recent months, and the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System recorded its highest-ever peak of 246.2 MW just last night; this is growth the strengthened grid is being built to serve.
The new cable will sit some 75 feet beneath the riverbed, far below the existing cable, clearing the way for the long-awaited dredging of the Demerara River channel by the Government of Guyana, thereby opening the river to deeper-draft vessels in support of Guyana’s expanding trade and shipping.
GPL said it has not waited on the new crossing, noting that as an immediate redundancy measure, a second cable has already been laid from Sussex Street to Vreed-en-Hoop, giving West Demerara an additional supply path today, while the main crossing is drilled.
The crossing forms part of GPL’s strategic build out of the national grid: new substations, transmission lines, distribution feeders and battery storage now under construction across the country to serve Guyana’s fast-growing homes, businesses and industry.
