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Total power shutdown in Bartica
…as last engine fails
Bartica, Region Seven, was in darkness last night as the remaining engine of that
AFC Chairman, Nigel Hughes, speaking with Barticians yesterday.
community went down.
According to the state-owned Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), as of 18:15 hrs yesterday, a failed turbo charger caused the No. 9 Caterpillar generating engine to go offline. This means that until repairs are done to that engine, the area will remain without power.
“Consequent of this, all of Bartica is without electricity at present. A team comprising MACORP and GPL personnel is currently working to assess the damage, replace the damaged turbo charger and restore power at earliest,” the power company said last evening.
The power situation in that community- considered a key gateway into logging and mining districts – has sparked protests over the past two days after outages that began over two weeks ago.
Earlier yesterday, GPL released a load-shedding schedule which banked on the No. 9 generator to supply power in the absence of the No. Six and Eight sets. GPL also said that the No. 9 generator set is working at maximum load of 850kW.
While the schedule gave a time frame that ends July 26, GPL did not definitively say when normal power would be restored to the community.
According to Bharat Dindyal, Chief Executive Officer of GPL, “The current Bartica power plant can only accommodate three generators and that is the number we have there right now. The problems being experienced are being attended to by MACORP and GPL in tandem.”
The power company announced that it is working to install three 2-MW Heavy Fuel Oil-fired power stations at Bartica to help deal with the power problems.
Dindyal indicated that the company is currently receiving proposals for the construction of the plant with the expectation that it will be operational by the third quarter of next year.
A policeman taking notes during continued protests in Bartica yesterday over the power situation.
While the cost of that new plant is unknown at this time, based on the proposals, it appears GPL would be paying between US$2M -US$2.5M per MW.
The situation in Bartica has attracted severe criticisms, including accusations of neglect and inaction by GPL. Furious residents wanted to know why the power company allowed the situation in Bartica to escalate over the years without any action being taken.
On Wednesday and again yesterday, they took to the streets with placards to protest the situation.
They believe that GPL should have replaced the old generators years ago or temporarily replace the old sets with working ones until the problem was rectified.
According to Dindyal, “We have other Caterpillar generators that can be taken to the location but two of the three generators were placed there within the last two years. The problems on two of the three generators are not significant enough to warrant replacement of the entire generator.”
He noted that most of GPL’s generator sets are fixed units. He explained that a component failing does not entail replacing the entire machine.
“It is like replacing a car if the fuel pump goes bad. We would only replace an entire machine if there is a major failure and the repair is not economical or feasible. At Bartica, we have three generators with one capable of supplying power to the community. It is not normal for all three generators to have problems at the same time and it is far more expedient to rush in parts to effect repairs than try to rush in a 35-ton replacement generator,” Dindyal said.
The following is the load shedding guide issued by the company yesterday:
DATE PERIOD FEEDER AREA
24, July 2014 18:00-00:00 hrs North Substation (7th Avenue)
00:00-06:00 hrs Potaro Potaro Spur Substation
06:00-12:00 hrs North 1st Avenue(Power Station)
12:00:18:00 hrs South 1st Avenue (Power Station)- 3rd Avenue (7th Street)
25, July 2014 18:00-00:00 hrs North Substation (7th Avenue)
00:00-06:00 hrs Potaro Potaro Spur Substation
06:00-12:00 hrs North 1st Avenue(Power Station)
12:00:18:00 hrs South 1st Avenue (Power Station)- 3rd Avenue (7th Street)
26, July 2014 18:00-00:00 hrs North Substation (7th Avenue)
24:00-06:00 hrs Potaro Potaro Spur Substation
06:00-12:00 hrs North 1st Avenue(Power Station)
12:00:18:00 hrs South 1st Avenue (Power Station)- 3rd Avenue (7th Street)
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