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Kingston expansion will be completed in August

May 26, 2011 News

Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL), Bharat Dindyal, has set August as the date to complete the expansion of the Kingston Power Station.
Two Wartsila engines costing US$18.3M, arrived in Guyana last week.
This will enable GPL to generate 15.6 megawatts (mw) of electricity, but the company is by no means promising an end to blackouts.
Dindyal yesterday said that one of the sets has already been put in position, and the other will be installed shortly.
Once this is done, the company will start assembling the building.
The installation of the new generating sets represents an expansion of 13.5 metres.
Dindyal told reporters that 95 per cent of the equipment is already in the country to complete the project.
He said that currently, the Kingston plant has a capacity to generate 85 megawatts of electricity, but with one of the generating sets down because of a recent rodent problem, the company is now generating 79 megawatts.
He said that with the installation of the two new generating sets, capacity will be improved but this would not necessarily mean an end to blackouts.
Government is hoping that the installation of the engines could be completed for commissioning before an August 31 deadline.
However, he warned, things will remain tight until next year with other works, including conversion of generating sets from 50 to 60 cycle, underway.
Wartsila, a Finnish company known for building marine engines, has been in Guyana since the 1990s and contracted to maintain and operate the engines.
Demand for electricity has been growing from new housing schemes and additional equipment like air condition units.
It is now estimated that at least 10 mw of needed power have to be added to the system to meet rising demands, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds revealed recently.
Taking a knock at critics of GPL who would have been calling for privatization of the state-owned company, the PM argued that Government, as a shareholder, has been foregoing its dividends, and making loans and other investments to ensure tariffs are kept low.
Questioned about commercial and technical losses, a major thorn in the side of GPL for years now, the PM insisted that it is estimated that one in every four Guyanese is stealing electricity.
This exists although harsh laws were passed last year.
To reduce technical losses, which come from faulty transmission lines, among other things, GPL is moving ahead with a major US$40M project, funded by the Chinese, to build new transmission lines and several sub-stations across the country.
But electricity theft is also worrying the GPL’s CEO.
According to him, 700 persons and businesses are before the courts.
Last year, GPL for the first time brought down commercial losses by three per cent to below 30 per cent.

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