Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Second powership to be connected for Christmas
Kaieteur News- The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is working feverishly to connect the second power ship to the national grid, which Prime Minister, Mark Phillip, said would improve electricity generation, and which should be up and running before Christmas.
Guyanese have been suffering daily blackouts, forcing government to rent two power ships to boost electricity supply. The second ship is anchored at the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) terminal at Ruimveldt.
Phillips, on Sunday, conducted a site visit at the new Georgetown substation and the newly arrived powership docked in the Demerara River. Accompanied by Mr. Kesh Nandlall, GPL’s CEO (ag); Mr. Antonio Neto, UCC Americas Director, and technical teams from GPL and Kalpataru Projects International Limited (KPIL), the Prime Minister inspected ongoing works to connect the powership to the national grid.
Prime Minister, Mark Phillips and other officials during their tour of the second powership
The powership is connected to the grid via a 3.9-kilometre double-circuit line. Supported by approximately 22 structures, it will initially supply 60 megawatts of electricity to the national grid, with an additional 15 megawatts to follow in its second phase. This infrastructure enables electricity injection at the new Georgetown substation, with additional distribution to the Sophia substation. During Sunday’s visit, Prime Minister Phillips expressed confidence in the project’s progress, referring to it as “a commendable effort”.
“Based on the briefing I received this morning; we are on target. Soon we’ll be connecting the ship, and the power will be available as planned for Christmas,” Philips is quoted as saying in a press release issued by his office. The Prime Minister also acknowledged the challenges posed by controlled power outages, but assured final connections and preliminary checks, including engine start-ups and testing, are set to be completed before the holidays, ensuring readiness for operation.
“We want to ask the people, especially those suffering from power outages as a result of this project, to bear with us. This is a controlled power outage to ensure that we connect and test, so everyone will have more electricity available.”
The second powership is expected to add initially 60 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.
He further commended the efforts of GPL and its contractor KPIL, emphasising the swift execution of the project within the six-week timeframe. The project is in its final stages, with only the connection, testing, and power distribution phases to be completed.
Addressing the power company’s readiness to manage this new power source, the Prime Minister expressed complete confidence in GPL’s capabilities. He highlighted that senior GPL personnel have been overseeing the project from its inception and will continue to manage the power distribution process. Drawing on their successful experience with the 36-megawatt setup in Berbice, the Prime Minister conveyed his full assurance in the team’s ability to effectively manage and distribute the additional power to Guyanese consumers. The powership is a crucial part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to enhance the reliability of electricity nationwide, paving the way for more stable energy for all Guyanese.
The agreement to rent a second powership was officially signed on November 13, 2024. GPL’s head, Nandlall, signed the contract with the Managing Director of the Americas, UCC Holdings, Mr. Neto. This second powership is being rented from the same company that leased the first one for a period of two years. That contract was signed between the GPL Inc. and UCI, a subsidiary of UCC Holdings, a company incorporated in the State of Qatar. UCC Holdings reportedly has a strategic alliance with Karpowership International, a Turkish company. That deal is for some 36 megawatts of power. Karpowership arrived in May and was set up at Everton, Berbice, Region Six. For the first vessel, Guyana had to pay a mobilization fee of US$1M to get the ship here and the contract, according to GPL, includes the provision of operation and maintenance services as part of the agreement. The utility company had said then, “the contract requires GPL to pay UCI a fee of 6.62 US cents per kWh as a monthly charter fee for the powership and a monthly operation and maintenance fee of 0.98 US cents per kWh, based on electricity generated.”
(Second powership to be connected for Christmas)
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