GPL boosts capacity by 9.6 MW with 6 new generators to ensure bright Christmas

With electricity usage expected to surge in the upcoming weeks, the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) has boosted its generating capacity to meet the demand of the holiday season with six additional units.

These generators are expected to add an additional 10 megawatts (MW) to the system, which currently has a 145-MW capacity.
According to the power company, the six power modules and associated transformers were procured at a cost of $475,422,029 and $80,886,430.
Three of the units will be installed at GPL’s Sophia, Georgetown location, while the other three will be installed at GPL’s Onverwagt, West Berbice location.
Further, GPL added another four units as generation reserve – three of which will be installed at its Canefield, East Berbice location and one at the Anna Regina, Essequibo location.
GPL said the arrival of these units is in keeping with the company’s commitment to boost generation capacity and provide customers in the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) with reliable electricity.
Chairman of the GPL Board, Maurice Gajadhar noted that with the addition of the 10 MW from these six units, the total generating capacity of the system will now be approximately 155 MW.
He explained that currently, the peak demand is about 120 MW, and in the height of the Christmas season (December 15 to January 15), this goes up to about 125 to 130 MW.

This would mean that there would be at least 30 to 25 MW reserve capacity at peak.
“It will at least reassure us that if something goes wrong or the system trips, we have these 10 megawatts as backup. So we are more or less reassured that in terms of generation, we have enough capacity to meet the demand during the Christmas season. I’m not saying we won’t have any outages, but we will have enough power to meet the peak demand,” the GPL Chairman posited.
Gajadhar further related that the 7.8 MW Kingston generator is currently being serviced and this is expected to be completed on Tuesday but will require an additional two days for trial testing to ensure it is functioning properly.
“That 7.8-megawatt generator that is being serviced at Kingston will come to an end by Thursday. So, that means we will have a full capacity of 155 megawatts in the system. No generators will be up for service going into the Christmas season. All generators would’ve been serviced and all maintenance will be completed by [this] week so all our generating capacity will be online,” he stated.
The GPL Chairman went on to say that while efforts are afoot to improve generation services to the country, the power company is also revamping is customer and Public Relations services to better serve customers.