Fire guts GPL’s Caterpillar generator in Anna Regina

Authorities in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a fire which erupted at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc power plant at Anna Regina.
Minister within the Public Works Ministry Deodat Indar said one of the caterpillar generator sets caught fire on Wednesday morning but the blaze has since been extinguished.
The fire of unknown origin stated at about 11:00h. Officials are still in the process of assessing the damages.
Reports indicate that the damaged equipment is not among the new units which were installed in 2019.
An $8.81 billion power plant was commissioned at the Anna Regina location on April 27, 2019.
One year later, it started to experience mechanical problems. Reports were that the number one and number three generators started to develop mechanical problems, forcing GPL engineers to replace them with the standby caterpillar sets that were there as an emergency backup.
This publication understands the generator that was damaged was one of the backup generators.
In a statement on the issue, GPL said “one of the Caterpillar Units at the Company’s Anna Regina Power Plant caught fire moments ago. The Guyana Fire Service was immediately contacted and assisted with extinguishing the fire”.
As a precautionary measure, the remaining units at the plant were taken offline until the fire was extinguished.
“Our engineers have since restarted the engines and are currently working to restore power incrementally to customers on the Coast. GPL wishes to assure customers that the recent incident will not impact the Company’s ability to meet the generation demand on the Coast.”