Latest update October 6th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 19, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. recorded a total of 96 countrywide power outages during last year.
This was revealed during a hearing of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) last week when the power company came up for review of its 2023 Operating Standards and Performance Targets (OSPT).
The 96 outages represented an increase. There was a 10 percent reduction in the frequency of power outages in 2022. GPL’s Divisional Director for Loss Reduction, Parsram Persaud explained that the interruptions were due to a number of reasons ranging from planned maintenance to emergencies. Persaud disclosed that the prolonged dry season contributed significantly to the demand for energy in November and December 2023, hence, demand outstripped supply in several instances.
He said the company was able to grow its generation capacity by 14.5 percent in 2023 but the peak demand for power increased by 21.4 percent. As such, Persaud said that the agency’s Smart Grid pilot project at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) was yielding results that may see an increase in power for households and commercial entities.
He noted that GPL was monitoring the feeder and based on its performance, the project would be implemented in other communities. “Our intention is to look at the others that coming in from their sub-station – the length and through certain areas that are very far from the sub-station. Alongside that, too, we are looking at the data that is coming in from complaints where people are complaining about low voltage situations.” “It’s the first stage in smart metering and we’re building the infrastructure piece by piece… over the next five years, we expect to update those meters to two hundred and something thousand as the customer base grow,” Persaud explained.
This project is currently in phase one, and phase two will be undertaken in 2026. The goal of this pilot project is to show how the Itron bridge type meters can be used for voltage monitoring and drive corrective work required to ensure that the voltage being provided to customers are within the voltage regulation standard.
“We will continue to report on the particular circuit that we use as a pilot and other circuits that are coming out of other sub-stations. We will also share with the PUC, the ranging of these feeders in terms of load and in terms of customers,” Persaud added.
Divisional Director of Power Generation and Distribution, Bharat Harjohn, who also appeared before PUC disclosed that GPL is working to install concrete poles. “We are now trying to move away from the wooden structures; we are introducing concrete structures, tubing steel poles and fibre-glass poles. We are intensifying our maintenance activity, which is going to be a continuous process. We are trying to reduce the time allotted for maintenance, and by doing so, we are going to increase the number of teams doing maintenance in the area. Apart from this, he noted that GPL would continue to use drone technology, which has been a tremendous benefit. Harjohn explained, “We have been able to scan the network to pick up any incumbencies, and also to identify network defects. These drones are equipped with infrared cameras, and they can pick up things the individual eyes cannot…” he said.
October 1st turn off your lights to bring about a change!
Oct 06, 2024
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