Latest update November 13th, 2024 1:00 AM
GPL to pay more for power poles amidst shortage
A shortage of power poles has prompted the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) to up its prices.
Yesterday, the state-owned power company asking for Expressions of Interest in a notice published in the Guyana Chronicle, said it was looking for 30-foot, 40-foot, 45-foot and 50-foot lengths.
GPL is expected to pay more for wallaba poles in face of a severe shortage.
The poles are to be used for GPL’s continuous enhancement of its network.
The company has been battling a severe shortage of the poles for a number of years now.
For the 30-foot poles, GPL said it is willing to pay $25,000 each; for the 40-foot poles $35,000; for the 45-foot poles -$45,000 and the 50-foot poles- $60,000.
In April, the company disclosed that it was looking for at least 10,000 poles to carry out its programmes in the next year or so.
These include the 40-50 feet lengths which are ideal for the new transmission lines being run along the coasts.
However, the shorter 30 feet lengths, for the normal power line poles, will remain the most critical.
In the past, GPL was depending on mainly the loggers for the poles. However, these operators have been demanding more money as access to the wallaba trees became harder. The loggers claimed that access to the trees was an expensive process as the trees were deeper in the forestry concessions.
The demands for poles have grown in recent years as new housing schemes, maintenance and a US$40M programme to run new transmission lines started.
The Chinese contractor on the transmission line project immediately ran into problems as the longer lengths were not available.
The shortage had delayed works on the new transmission lines.
The company was forced to import pine poles to meet demands.
GPL had indicated that it was in talks with current suppliers. Works in a number of new housing schemes have also been facing delays.
GPL has been toying with the idea of using concrete poles or metal poles to meet the growing demands.
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