GPL rolls out monopole project amid modernisation of power grid

Several wooden poles connected to the National Grid’s substation are set to be removed and replaced with several monopoles as Guyana Power and Light (GPL) moves ahead with the modernisation of the country’s electricity infrastructure.
This was revealed by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Operations at GPL Bharat Harjohn on Friday, who said the monopoles are already being installed as the utility moves swiftly ahead with modernising the sector.
“The monopoles are already [being] setup, and it will interconnect with the new substation in Chateau Margot. It will also interconnect with the substation in Good Hope, which we are expanding, and it will interconnect with the substation in Enmore, and then go straight to Columbia, where we are upgrading that substation.”
The monopoles will be connected to substations such as the Goedverwagting Substation, which will accommodate 230-kilovolt (kV) and 69-kV infrastructure and serve as a key point in the expansion of GPL’s high-voltage transmission network.
The facility will support the evacuation of bulk power from the 300-megawatt (MW) natural-gas-fired power plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD), and enable transmission across the network.
The new 230-kV transmission infrastructure will extend from Goedverwagting to Region Six, significantly increasing the capacity of the network.
Meanwhile, speaking about the monopole project, Harjohn highlighted its importance to ongoing road construction works.
“I just want to mention one of the interesting things about this project. On this side here, you see the 69-kV monopole structure. From Sophia to Good Hope and Good Hope to Columbia, we have two transmission lines. Sophia to Good Hope, we call it L16, and from Good Hope to Columbia, we call it L17, and it’s actually in the way of the road construction, the railway road.”
He explained that the existing lines will have to be removed to facilitate the continuation and expansion of the road project.
“So, we will remove [the old lines] completely from the railway embankment, and that will now facilitate the continuation of that road project, the expansion, because there is some section where the lines are still in the way. So, this will help. That is why we are pushing to get this part of the project as a priority, to get it completed as fast as possible.”
Harjohn also explained that the new 230-kV infrastructure will facilitate the movement of power from Good Hope towards Region Five.
“And the 230, as you can see on the southern side, is actually taking the power now from Good Hope. From GTE, we brought the power to Good Hope, and we are now going to take the power to Region Five.”