Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 10, 2015 News
Guyana Power and Light (GPL) yesterday commissioned the company’s largest and most modern electricity generating plant at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, yesterday. The US$36M power plant
and substation were two years in construction. President Donald Ramotar, along with several government ministers, and GPL executives were there for the commissioning.
The new power plant will generate 26 megawatt of electricity that can power the whole of West Demerara, parts of Georgetown, and reach areas as far as Berbice. The peak capacity of West Demerara is 12 megawatts of power. The remainder from the Vreed-en-Hoop station would be sent to the Demerara and Berbice Interconnected systems.
The redistribution is done through GPL’s Central Control Station in Sophia, Georgetown. With improved and modern technology, officials say that the wiring of electricity can be done in 10 minutes against the four hour time span experienced under the previous system.
The positioning of other substations in strategic locations also makes it easy for GPL to transmit the necessary energy where required. For West Demerara in particular, as it relates to power generation the occurrence of blackouts is almost eradicated.
GPL’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bharat Dindyal, told the gathering of Government officials and special guests that the Vreed-en-Hoop Wartsila-built plant was in the making for some two years. It is the latest facility built in the 20-year relationship with Wartsila, a relationship that has provided some 110 MW of generating capacity with Regions Two, Three and Four.
The company’s continued investment serves the ever growing demand for power
and allows for the removal of old machinery, Dindyal said.
The new power station demanded measures to satisfy access to marine transport for fuel, proximity to transition system and ability to access load centres via transmission lines and distribution feeders. “This site not only meets these important criteria, but allows the entire West Demerera to be self-sufficient in generating capacity during times of maintenance when transition link with east Demerara has to be isolated.”
In describing the sophisticated power facility, Dindyal said that it operates the largest internal combustion engines ever used in the country’s electricity sector. There are heat recovering boilers, fire system for electrical and fuel fires; a workshop equipped with all maintenance equipment, flood control system that caters for the highest recorded level of rainfall, an independent start system, control and monitoring system for the entire facility, noise mitigation measures, and water processing and separation system for the release of acceptable water quality.
The Vreed-en-Hoop facility includes the substation which is linked to the Demerara –Berbice grid. There are heavy fuel pipelines that run some 500 metres from a wharf constructed east of the plant. The lines are for the marine transport of fuel.
Chairman of the GPL Board of Directors, Winston Brassington, told the gathering that the Wartsila plant follows a 15.6 MW plant commissioned in 2011 and another 20.7 MW plant in 2009, “…representing a 62MW increase of new Wartsila power over a period of six years.”
The new plant comes alongside the recently commissioned infrastructure development programme, which provided for transmission lines all the way to Berbice; a link of the Demerara -Bebice system and a number of new substations recently commissioned.
But what is excited about the new plant, Brassington said, is when combined with existing power, “we can now send power all the way up to Moleson Creek in the east and Parika in the west.” Considering the state of generation in Berbice, the Demerara generation system is now supplying about 12MW of power to Berbice through the new link.
Demerara accesses 106 MW from Wartsila generators that use heavy fuel oil. This according to Brassington, allowed GPL to lower its fuel cost. Comparisons show that in 2007, GPL’s fuel mix was 57 percent heavy fuel oil and 48 percent diesel. Currently, the mix is up to 93 percent heavy fuel oil and seven percent diesel which impacts positively since heavy fuel oil carries a lower cost than diesel.
Both Brassington and President Donald Ramotar spoke to the technical and commercial losses experienced by GPL. Brassington said that since 2004, the company has moved its losses from 38 per cent to 28.7 per cent. He also spoke about measures that will see finance being pumped into a system to tackle electricity theft.
President Ramotar was adamant; however, that customers ought to be educated about electricity theft since in this regard, they undermine their own development. He added also, that given the government’s contribution to the electricity sector GPL has benefitted from well over US$200M. With such investments being pumped into the company, the President charged also that criticisms of GPL’s service are justifiable.
The issue of cheap and renewable energy was also big on the President’s agenda as he stressed the construction and operation of the Amalia Falls Hydro Project.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who has responsibility for the electricity sector, also mentioned the need for renewable cheap energy and posited that the new modern plant is an achievement of all Guyanese.
However, neither GPL agents nor government officials connected to the energy sector spoke to the trucking of some 1000 barrels of fuel to the Vreed-en-Hoop plant via the Harbour Bridge on a daily basis. This is despite $242M being awarded for the construction of the wharf that would accommodate the marine transport of the fuel.
Some 20 trucks are said to be used daily to transport the fuel, incurring an additional cost running into millions of dollars. Weight restrictions of the bridge also see the trucks being forced to take only about quarter of their capacity at a time and gravely affecting the flow of traffic.
However, until the operation of the pipelines the 1000 barrels of fuel required to operate the plant daily, will have to be done via roadway.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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