Anna Regina $8.81B power plant experiencing mechanical problems

It has only been a year since the $8.81 billion power plant was commissioned at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), and it has already started to experience mechanical problems.

Reports are the number one and number three generators started to develop mechanical problems, forcing the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) engineers to replace them with the standby Caterpillar sets that were there as an emergency backup.
Two more Caterpillar sets were taken to the Region to assist. This newspaper was told that at present, engineers were able to get one of the two sets that were experiencing mechanical issues to run by using parts from the other.
A private engineer close to the project told Guyana Times that the three generators that were purchased appear to be reconditioned units. The engineer noted that the generators were designed for standby purposes and not for the full-time capacity that is being utilised.
“The three generators are built inside containers to be used as mobile standby units and not for long continuous running which is putting too much stress on the engines, causing them to fail. At present two of the three generators are running along with the Caterpillar sets and residents feared the worst and are hoping not to return to the 2019 scenario where the entire coast was out of electricity for weeks which sparks widespread protest,” the engineer told this publication.
The multibillion-dollar plant was commissioned by caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and other Government officials on April 27, 2019.
At the commissioning, the caretaker Prime Minister boasted that with the new power plant, there will be a stable and reliable flow of electricity. However, mere hours after the launch, the entire Essequibo Coast had plunged into darkness. At that time, residents thought it was just a changeover but they remained without electricity.
In 2017 and 2018, residents living along the Essequibo Coast were plagued by a series of nonstop power outages, which affected persons throughout the Region. At the time, residents had said they had lost faith in the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) which they said was incapable of ending their woes.
In 2018, only two of the five standby generators at the Anna Regina Power Station were functional. In August 2018, the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ECCI) had called on Government to intervene to alleviate the blackout situation since residents, especially the business sector, expressed their fear of losing millions of dollars in cool storage items. (G14)