20 companies shortlisted to upgrade GPL’s distribution, transmission system

Despite an investment of over US$2.4 million annually from Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. to improve power supply, power outages continue to be a problem due to the aged distribution and transmission system.
Asked about the recent spate of blackouts which occur multiple times daily, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said, “Every time we ask them, there is something.”
He noted that the ongoing problem is the lack of an alternative distribution and transmission system. The Vice President disclosed twenty (20) companies were prequalified to upgrade the system ahead of the Gas to Energy (GtE) Project.
“That means redundancy, circuits…if you get a single line and it goes off, everyone down the line is affected but if you have redundancy and circuits then you can continue to supply,” he told reporters during his weekly press conference.
The government he said is spending over $160 million to build sub-stations, a control centre and other components of a modernisation programme.
Jagdeo noted that the electricity demand is steadily increasing with the construction of new hotels and the expansion of businesses.
“We’re in a mad rush to keep pace until that big project comes onstream next year,” the Vice President said referring to the GtE project which will generate some 300MGW of power.
Jagdeo said he is also affected by the constant power outages but hopefully, the issue will be solved in the new year. “I am as concerned as any citizen because we are trying to put more power system, there is a lot of upgrades to the transmission and distribution system that we have [and] it’s not stable. The moment you put more power into the system, you get this” he noted.
“It’s a combination of factors and it bothers me too” the VP added.
On Thursday, Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. recorded service interruptions several times which it said was due to the pile driving and road work activities being carried out by a contractor at Hope and Unity, East Coast Demerara.
This resulted in a trip on the L 17 Transmission Line connecting the Colombia and Good Hope Substations and subsequently, a cascading effect on the grid, leading to multiple generators going offline.
On Thursday, another series of power outages was experienced to which the company credited another contractor. It noted that machinery owned by AJM Enterprise came into contact with GPL’s L2 Transmission Line at Dumpsite Road, EBD, resulting in a widespread outage. Similar issues have occurred over the past month.