GPL’s Preparedness for the Holiday Season

Georgetown, Guyana, Monday December 23, 2019: The Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) remains committed to providing reliable electricity supply to our customers during the holiday season. We have made every effort to ensure there is adequate available generation, however, the inadequacies within the aged Transmission and Distribution (T&D) network continues to pose problems. Despite the circumstances, GPL continues to make the most of the existing assets through proactive maintenance and prudent operational practices.

GPL concluded pre-planned maintenance activities on the T&D network on December 8. The team, however, continues to ensure that issues that could cause potential widespread outages during the holidays are addressed. In some instances, this may mean having localized outages for shorter periods of time. We apologise for these situations, but they are necessary, given the vulnerabilities of the T&D network.

The following is a breakdown of available generation and projected demand for areas served by GPL. It should be noted that in most instances the distribution network is radial and failure of any one component may result in service interruption to customers. Every effort will be made to prevent these failures and to act promptly if they occur.

Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS)

The current available generation capacity within the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) is 137 Megawatt (MW). Efforts are being made to maximize available generation capacity for the festive season by, among other things, bringing back into operation generating units that were unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. Peak demand for this year has thus far hit 124.6 MW, which is about 7% higher than the peak for last year.

ESSEQUIBO & ISLANDS

Anna Regina

The three units at the Anna Regina Power Plant provide a total of 5.4 MW. Additionally, GPL has maintained three (3) Caterpillar units with total capacity of 3.8 MW to complement the three new sets. Peak demand is currently 5.3 MW and is expected to increase over time. The plan is to add a fourth 1.8 MW Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) fired unit, which has been provided for at the current site, and a new 5 MW block by 2021.

 Bartica

 5.2 MW of generation will be available to provide customers in Bartica with an adequate power supply to meet the peak demand of approximately 1.6 MW.

Leguan

Units with an aggregate capacity of 0.8 MW are currently available at Leguan. These units can adequately supply the peak demand of approximately 0.3 MW.

Wakenaam

With a peak demand of approximately 0.3 MW, customers in Wakenaam are expected to have adequate power generation with the availability capacity of 0.97 MW.

As we work towards improving system reliability and service delivery, we take this opportunity to wish all our customers a safe and enjoyable holiday season.