Problems surround the hydroelectric facility

Oct 13, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
Through Demerara Waves I was made aware of President Jagdeo‘s plan to construct a 150MW hydroelectricity generating station. If the report by Demerara Waves is correct, very little research was done and the President has not been provided with all available information to make his choice.
A hydroelectric station must have a reliable source of water and that means building a dam and flooding a large area to retain the source. The flooding will have a negative impact on the environment in that many animal and plant species will die.
Also, when the flood gates are open during or after a rainy season, the water will rush down river, flooding other areas in its path along the Kuribrong and Potaro Rivers. The flood gates must be opened to avoid compromising the main dam and increasing the size of the area already flooded. Furthermore, we live in an era when countries are trying to reclaim land or are in the process of border disputes due to the unknown buried natural resources.
As a result of technological advancements and metal fatigue, engineers do not build industrial facilities to last 100 years therefore it is incomprehensible that the President can even accept such a concept.
Electricity generating stations and other heavy industrial facilities are usually built to last 25 years but, as they age, maintenance costs increase to the point that further production becomes uneconomical.
The Kingston Plant is a point in question. Replacement parts are no longer available and must be custom made at great expense. Furthermore, outages are an everyday occurrence. This plant cannot be considered a reliable source of electricity which is why many commercial establishments, and from what I hear, many residences, have turned to alternative sources such as privately owned generators.
Demerara Waves described the 150MW Hydroelectricity Generating Station as “massive.” Obviously, the author of the article is not familiar with electricity generating stations. Electricity generating stations are generally described as large and the 1100MW Station proposed by Brazil’s President Lula would be large. It is difficult for me to even conceive of a 150MW station due to its small size.
Had I been giving advice to the President, I would have proposed a series of Wind Farms. At $2 million per Turbine, the $600 million would provide 300 turbines each producing 2MW of electricity. Small wind farms could be built in areas of need.
Furthermore, additional wind turbines could be added to existing farms increasing capacity as needed and, wind turbines do not produce Greenhouse Gases and would not impact the environment.
Neville Quelch
Toronto, ON Canada

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