No shake-up but “tremendous technical support” for GPL – Pres Ali

…says remaining electricity generators to come on stream soon

President Dr Irfaan Ali has ruled out any shake-up of the management at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) but noted that tremendous technical support is needed to ensure adequate and effective power supply from the entity.
In recent weeks, power outages have heightened across the country, forcing the Head of State to put the top brass of GPL on blast during a series of emergency meetings on Tuesday. Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar, had indicated to reporters that “serious adjustments” were forthcoming.
As a result, President Ali was asked on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday morning whether there could be a shake-up of the GPL management including Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated (PPDI) and Wartsilla – the two companies that play integral roles in generating the country’s power. The Head of State told reporters that what is needed at this point is enhanced technical support for the power company.

That support, according to the President, could be imported.
“There is human resource gap and that has to be fixed. We have to get more engineers, more technicians and more linesmen urgently because of the demand in the system, because of the use of the system and the expansion of the system.”
“PPDI, Wartsilla, GPL, there will be tremendous technical support that will come [for those entities] …Right now, as I speak to you, I’ve expressed my disappointment [about GPL’s operations but] the system needs technical people. There are a number of vacancies. They’ve been trying to recruit but they’re not getting the people. So, they’re go out once more and if they don’t get then, we’ll have to bring in that technical support,” the Guyanese Leader noted.
Only last month, Dominican Republic (DR) based energy company, InterEnergy Group (IEG), said it will be partnering with GPL in an effort to help the power company better manage its electricity services.
Based on a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between GPL and InterEnergy back in January of this year, the Dominican Republic company is expected to lend its expertise in electricity generation and transmission, in addition to smart metering.
On Wednesday, President Ali said InterEnergy is one of the partners that the Guyana Government will be working with.
“They are one option. They’ve been working with us, trying to help us identify gaps and build out the system that they will support. So, yes, they are in the equation,” the Head of State posited.
Guyana has been enduring a spate of blackouts over the past week, following what the GPL has described as engine failures at different locations.
According to the Guyanese Leader, the issues affecting GPL’s operation are multifaceted and are interconnected. These range from aged infrastructure and systems, lack of maintenance and the growing demand for electricity coupled with public destruction of entity’s transmission utilities.
“Immediately, we have to address the existing system and to invest in strengthening the existing system. Then in the immediate medium-term, we have to look at the distribution and transmission system. Immediately, we have to look at the demand and bringing in that bridging power to help us through this period. So, those are the immediate steps, and of course, the technical capacity and support,” the President explained.

Gen sets
As it is, the maximum generating capacity of the national grid is approximately 180 megawatts (MW) and it is projected that electricity demand would peak at 236 megawatts this year.
However, with its current challenges, GPL is now generating some 165 megawatts.
Back in December, 17 containerised electricity generators were purchased to the tune of US$27 million to enhance the power generation during the Christmas holiday. Procured from Apan Energy Service, these sets are expected to contribute an additional 28.9 megawatts to the national grid.
But due to shipment delays and technical issues in setting them up, it was reported that only nine of those gen sets have been installed.
President Ali indicated to reporters on Wednesday that the remaining generation sets are expected to be set up soon to further enhance the generating capacity of the national grid.
“There [some outstanding megawatts] that has to come online, we’re working to bring that online. But all of that is taken into account when I said 165 megawatts. So, that should be online with a few weeks and so, all the available power will be online. But while that is happening, from the aged infrastructure that we have at Kingston, we have four generators that went down also. And some of these generators are 30 years old and getting parts for them is very difficult – crankshaft in one of the generators [is taking a] long, long time. So, these are the challenges we have also,” the president posited.

Additional generators
Chief Executive Officer of GPL, Kesh Nandlall in an interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday evening said that when these eight generators are connected then another 10 megawatts will be added to the grid.
He disclosed that five of the eight sets will be installed by this weekend and the remaining three will be connected next week.
Meanwhile, the government has also approached the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) to explore financing for the ageing transmission system and according to the Guyanese Head of State, this could be a significant amount.
“We haven’t quantified [the amount being requested] as yet but it’s going to be a sizeable demand because the transmission is very expensive. The transmission is going all the way to Region 10, and then we have to also upgrade the transmission and distribution network in the system itself,” the Guyanese Leader noted.
The Government has been banking on its model Gas-to-Energy project to deliver some 300 megawatts of power to the national grid not only ensuring reliable electricity but also cutting electricity costs down by at least 50 per cent. The power plant is expected to come on stream next year using natural gas from oil production activities in the prolific Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana. (G8)