Press Release
GPL L21 69kV Transmission Line is De-energised
MEDIA RELEASE
GPL L21 69kV Transmission Line is De-energised
Wednesday, September 9, 2020: At approximately 07:27 hours yesterday, September 8, 2020, a suspected fault on GPL’s L21 69kV Transmission Line which links the Onverwagt and Canefield Substations and transmits approximately six (6) megawatts of power between the substations was de-energised.
As a result of the L21 transmission Line being de-energised, the critical link between East Berbice and the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) was disengaged. Presently, East Berbice is being powered independently from the Skeldon and Canefield Power Plants, collectively this equates to approximately seventeen (17) megawatts of generating capacity. The available generating capacity is sufficient to meet the peak and off peak demand of Eastern Berbice.
To date, our technicians are yet to perform an assessment of the fault’s origin and perform necessary remedial work due to the ongoing civil protests along the East Berbice corridors, which is encumbering the movement of our technicians and equipment.
The present situation presents an imminent risk for available generation capacity, should a technical issue develop on any of our generating sets at Skeldon or Canefield. Notwithstanding this, we wish to assure the general public and our valued customers that our Company is doing all within its ambit to mitigate this risk by maintaining the reliability of the generation supply to Eastern Berbice and all served areas.
In another incident, today, September 9, 2020, at approximately 14:15 hours, customers from Seafield to Ithaca, West Berbice, experienced an interruption in the supply of electricity until 19:01 hours. While executing our network fault finding assessment, it was revealed that two distribution poles within proximity of our Onverwagt Power Plant were suspected to have been deliberately uprooted. Based on this technical investigation, we estimated that a similar deliberate act may have occurred on the L21 transmission line.
It is the intention of GPL Inc. to, without further delay, assess, perform corrective work and re-energize the L21 Transmission line and restore the critical transmission link between East Berbice and the DBIS. Our company is therefore urging the general public for your full cooperation so that we can alleviate this risk and enhance the reliability of generation, transmission and distribution within the DBIS.