Latest update January 30th, 2025 6:10 AM
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Incomplete BK-built Vreed-en-Hoop wharf stalls US$26M power station
The commissioning of a US$26M power plant at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara has been
The US$26M new power station at Vreed-en-Hoop. At the top is the just completed Chinese-built sub-station.
delayed yet again, with Government now looking at an October completion of a fuel wharf that is also being built in the area.
Updating Kaieteur News yesterday on the project which is supposed to boost the generating capacity of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. by another 26 megawatts, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GPL, Aeshwar Deonarine, said that the adjusted deadline of this month-end will not be met.
While the actual plant and its generators are almost completed with one more fuel tank being installed, the fuel wharf is what is proving the problem. The wharf is being built in a swampy area, and in difficult circumstances, along the western bank of the Demerara River.
With the plant demanding a massive 1,000 barrels of oil daily to operate and cognizant of the limitations of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, GPL decided to construct the fuel wharf along with pipelines which will be running several hundred feet to the new Wartsila generators.
Earlier this year, CEO Bharat Dindyal had said that the terrain has been challenging, with 800 piles driven to ensure the foundation of the new station remains stable. He had set a July completion date for the project.
While the plant would be completed shortly, it will be awaiting the wharf before it is placed into operation.
A nearby Chinese-built sub-station, one of seven built along the coastland under a US$40M
The plant has been delayed as this $242M fuel wharf is still not completed.
new transmission lines project, has also been completed.
The Wartsila-made engines arrived in September but could not be transported across the Demerara Harbour Bridge because of their weight. They had to be taken from the Georgetown port to Parika, from where special trucks that were brought in, transported them along the roadway to Vreed-en-Hoop.
The three 8.6 megawatt engines will be the largest of the Wartsila lot currently being operated by GPL countrywide.
In addition to the US$26M tag price for the new plant, another $242M was awarded in a contract to BK International for the building of the wharf and fuel lines.
When commissioned, the 26-megawatt engines are expected to boost GPL’s firm capacity to 106 megawatts. The extra power will also benefit Berbice as a new power cable across the Berbice River has been installed.
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