Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 13, 2014 News
Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds says that he is unaware if the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) earns any money from the various cable operators across the country utilizing the poles to run their cables.
Hinds was asked by this publication to comment on the amount of revenue earned in this regard, and according to Hinds, he is not sure if any money is being paid.
A number of cable television operators have been using the power company’s poles to run their cables, an act that the main telephone service provider, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) is asked to pay to do.
Asked to expound on the US$100M he recently said was needed to reduce technical losses in the system, the Prime Minister said that the figure mentioned was simply a ‘rough estimate’ and not based on any definitive study.
Such a study would require several million dollars and a number of years, according to Hinds, depending on the level of specificity required.
According to Hinds, the US$45M upgrade being undertaken to the system is dealing with the main distribution lines.
He said that the additional request is to deal with the secondary distribution network which would involve the wires or feeders running to the homes of the more than 170,000 customers.
The Prime Minister, who has ministerial responsibilities for power, in a recent letter to the editor noted that feeders have a thermal limit, and if exceeded, could fuse and start a fire.
“Standard utility practice is to not load feeders beyond 40 per cent of their thermal limits – but with our nation’s limited money, most feeders were loaded way above the standard. Many feeders were at 80 to 100 per cent of their thermal limits.”
The result has been high technical losses, voltage levels out of range, and frequent trips to protect the feeder from even small surges.
“The nearly-completed GPL Transmission Upgrade programme, of about US$45M, introducing, for the first time sub-stations – seven at this time – at points in the network, will create about halve the load on feeders, with consequential improvements in technical loss-reduction, greater conformity with the standard voltage levels, and reduced trips.”
But similar considerations apply to the secondary distribution circuits and feeders, and GPL Inc. is working at this, the Prime Minister assured.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
Mar 29, 2024
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