Gas-to-Energy Project: GPL’s US$8.6M control centre for August completion

As the Government gears up to unveil a new state-of-the-art power supply and distribution system, the Ministry of Public Works has reported that the US$8.6 million control centre for the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) will be completed by August this year.

Guyana and an ExxonMobil-led consortium are spearheading the Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project, which will allow for the use of offshore natural gas to generate up to 300 -megawatts (MW) of electricity.
To support this project, a number of other components are required. One of them is a state-of-the-art control centre which is under construction at Eccles, East Bank Demerara (ECD).
In July 2024, a US$8.6 million contract was signed with Power China Caribbean to construct the facility. Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar recently conducted a site inspection of the works, where he revealed that the project is on track for completion by August 2025.
In a subsequent interview with Guyana Times, Indar highlighted that the control centre will be outfitted with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system which will significantly enhance the power managing capabilities of GPL
“Sometimes folks don’t understand the level of complexity when you’re dealing with power and power management, distribution system, management of it and so on. That is why now we’re building a new SCADA system. The new control centre will have new SCADA system inside to monitor power, distribution of the power in a more efficient way, monitoring it and so on understanding which areas have problem you will pick it up.”
The Minister added, “The system is old, you can’t know if a community is out unless you get a report…Only when you get a report from a community, then you know power is out. The only time GPL will know from a systems point of view if there is an outage is when an entire feeder is gone that powers thousands of people in various communities.”
SCADA systems are a combination of hardware and software that allow organisations to monitor and control industrial processes, critical infrastructure, and equipment from a central location, often remotely.
The control centre will employ real-time monitoring to identify and address power outages promptly. It will also enable remote disconnections. Meanwhile, Indar had also conducted a site visit to the Goedverwagting substation that will transmit power from the GtE Project to consumers. There he revealed that the substation will be completed by June 30.
The substation’s switchyard will receive 230 kilovolts (kV) from the GtE facility, which will then be stepped down to 69 kV using 375 megavolt-amps (MVA) transformers. Subsequently, the 69 kV will be fed into 60 MVA transformers and stepped down to 13.8 kV, which will be distributed to 13.8 kV switchgear at various locations for consumer use.
Already in place are two 375 MVA transformers, each weighing 241 tonnes, as well as two 60 MVA transformers, each weighing 59 tonnes. Renowned technology from Siemens and ABB will be used at the substation.
Another component of the GtE Project is the upgrade of the transmission and distribution lines. the Government of Guyana, through GPL, last Friday signed several contracts to upgrade the local energy infrastructure.
With a total investment of US$422 million, the groundbreaking project will see the construction of 155-kilometres (km) of 230 double-circuit transmission lines, 167-km of 69 kV double-circuit transmission lines, the construction of five new substations, and the upgrading of the Kingston substation. These projects were divided into three lots, two of which were awarded to Power China, in the sum of US$256.7 million, and Kalpatary Teams, to the sum of US$156.5 million.