New US$27.5M generating plant to add to GPL’s energy supply

…apparatus slated to be operational by month end

A generating plant capable of producing 28.9 megawatts of additional power is expected to become operational by March month end. The plant is being sourced from Trinidad’s APAN Energy Services at a cost of US$27.5 million, and is currently being installed at the Guyana Power and Light substation at Columbia, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara.
This has been disclosed by GPL Executive Management Committee member Kesh Nandlall during the 13th review of the agency’s 2023 operating standards and performance targets. During that exercise, which was spearheaded by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Nandlall revealed that this plant would complement the national grid and boost generation capacity. He posited that the main objective is to give Guyanese a quality product, and indicated that efficiency would not be sacrificed for expediency.

“GPL has invested in a new generating plant in Columbia, which is now coming on stream. It is incrementally being added to the grid, and it is expected to be operational fully this month… Those are some of the improvements coming along, and which will see significant improvement in the quality and reliability of service that GPL will provide going forward into the future,” Nandlall has said.
While the Guyana Government works to secure funding to implement the historic gas-to-shore energy project, GPL plans to continue upgrading the physical infrastructure of the national grid.

“We continue to experience challenges from the grid perspective. We have been working towards improving the transmission and the distribution element of the grid, and from time to time we experience challenges. As the demand grows, the current infrastructure can be challenged, and that is something we have recognized as a significant improvement we need to make,” Nandlall explained.
Nandlall explained that this aspect of improving access to power generation requires significant funds, and the agency is in talks with Government to secure the amount needed.

Installation
In December 2023, the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) commenced work to install new generators and transformers at the substation at Columbia, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, and the engines were connected to the grid. Seven of the seventeen engines which were procured had already been transported to the site, whereas 76 containers of generators and transformers, along with radiators and fuel and oil separators, were shipped to Guyana in the MV Skystar. (G1)