By Jarryl Bryan
With the divestment of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) ongoing, times have changed for Skeldon Energy Company Incorporated (SECI). Once assured of its bagasse supply from sugarcane production, the company must now find new ways to generate power for the Berbice grid in order to survive.
In an interview with Guyana Times, SECI Chairman Lloyd Rose spoke of this dilemma and the company’s efforts to overcome it. One of the challenges the diversification initiative faces is the weather and the effect it has had on supplies.
“We have not gotten off the ground with that initiative, the weather being a factor,” he explained. “That has impacted the ability to supply the (materials). So the weather is now clearing up. And we are moving towards receiving starting sometime this month. We are engaged with a number of interested suppliers including the community.”
“So the exercise is now wrapping up and in any event we are now concluding some remedial repairs and maintenance works on the boilers. So we are on the up, but not there yet,” the Chairman noted.
Rose explained that historically, the SECI factory used the excess bagasse that GuySuCo produced when it grinds the sugarcane gleaned from the fields. This is indeed historical, as sugar production has slumped dramatically owing to the current downsizing of the industry.
“The GuySuCo people have informed us that they, at the moment, have no surplus of the bagasse. But that is at the moment. Of course, as they ramp up their production and get uneven yields, there will be a surplus. But for now, there is no surplus. We’re hoping that situation will change when they commence and they’re well into the crop, which is scheduled to commence the beginning of September.”
“What that means is there is no sugar crop, there is no production. There is no co-gen plant operation. We’re trying to move beyond that, in the context of no sugar production, whether it has to do with out of season or whether it has to do with Skeldon not operating at all as a sugar factory. We’re trying to move to a point of performing irrespective of bagasse and sugar production. But if the sugar is there, we’re all set up to receive it.”
As the saying goes, one must crawl before one leaps. And with the co-gen plant not producing what it has the capacity to; Rose explained that active efforts are being made to restart interim operations. This means attaining other biomass supplies in the short-term. In the long-term, Rose has hopes of crops being produced specifically for energy.
“Therefore the quest to get other bio mass (like) rice husk or more particularly, the firewood, to continue the operation of the plant. So that is the interim position. Ultimately, depends on what outcomes there are to the divestment process.”
“Ultimately, the next stage is energy crops, which are cultivated specifically to feed the co-gen plant. So there are two stages envisaged with this move. But all of that will be moderated with the outcome of the process of divestment. We’re not waiting, so we’re proceeding apace.”
Timelines
On the matter of timelines, he noted that they plan to have limited operations with the firewood by next month. He noted the importance of waiting for the rainy season to come to an end.
“We’re preparing for that right now. And we should have a ramp up of the ability to supply because of the changing weather. So at the end of the rainy season, being as it is, we’re hoping to get there.”
“Now if by any chance there is going to be a second crop at Skeldon, we’ll be prepared and ready to use it… but we’re moving beyond that and our operation will be based on the firewood and biomass, no later than September. And we hope to wrap that up, as we go forward.”
When renewable energy comes up, the risk that the national grid could become unstable when such energy is integrated into it is usually cited. However, Guyana has for almost a decade been successfully integrating renewable energy into the grid as a result of the Skeldon Co-generation Plant, which was established by the previous government.
But in June 2017, the co-gen plant was described as a ‘ticking time bomb’ that required US$2.5 million to restart the 30MW bagasse-fuelled component of the facility, and an additional US$17 million in order to fix other deficiencies.
SECI, a special purpose company owned by the Government’s holding company, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited and the Guyana Power and Light, purchased the Co-generation Plant from GuySuCo for an announced price of US$30 million.
