Latest update October 5th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 06, 2015 News
Almost seven months after the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) commissioned a US$36M power plant- its biggest to date- on the West Bank of Demerara, an adjoining wharf is still to become operational.
This is because of technical problems on the $242M structure which is now unlikely to be used anytime soon.
The wharf is critical for fuel boats from Suriname to pull alongside but inspections by experts from that country advised that more piles need to be driven in the Demerara River to further stabilize it.
Fuel lines from the wharf runs to the tanks at the plant.
Apparently, the wharf was built without the area being dredged.
As a result of the wharf’s non-commissioning, GPL has been forced to pay a private contractor millions of dollars every month to truck fuel across the Demerara Harbour Bridge.
Because of weight restrictions, the fuel trucks have been forced to take only quarter of a tank on the more-than-ten trips across the bridge daily.
It is unclear what procurement process was used in the contract award for the trucking of fuel as GPL has not been saying anything much.
With the new power plant requiring a reported 1,000 barrels of fuel daily from GPL’s Kingston compound, there is real worry for the management of the state-owned company.
There is not much leeway for delays in the fuel trucks across the Demerara River.
Any unfortunate episode of the bridge going down is likely to see the new power plant being forced to shut down.
The trucks have also been causing anger among drivers in the busy Vreed-en-Hoop area because of the congestion.
GPL was forced to spend monies to build a temporary facility to take the fuel from the trucks at Vreed-en-Hoop.
The plant has been key in boosting and stabilizing GPL’s supply with the power being distributed as far as Berbice through an inter-linked system.
The wharf contract was reportedly awarded to BK International back in June 2013.
GPL’s Chairman, Winston Brassington, said earlier this year that liquidated damages will not be ruled out against the contractor for the delays which are now placing the Vreed-en-Hoop plant in jeopardy.
The entire project itself was delayed by almost two years, sending costs up to US$36M. GPL had signed a US$26M contract with Wartsila, a Finnish company that has several engines across the country, since entering the Guyana market in the 1990s.
GPL was responsible for the foundation, fuel lines and wharf.
The company, which has been criticized for its high losses and costs, had admitted that the cost of trucking fuel is significant.
As a matter of fact, Loris Nathoo, Divisional Director (Finance) of GPL, said that the company is spending about US$1 more per barrel.
The previous Government had hailed the Vreed-en-Hoop plant as a major boost to GPL’s generating capacity.
Another major plus, said the officials, is the fact that Demerara, because of a new power cable link in the Berbice River, has been supplying around 10-12 megawatts of power, stabilizing the systems there. It is much cheaper than Berbice actually generating power.
GPL has been under scrutiny as consumers complain of blackouts and increasing costs. The business community has been calling for cheaper, more reliable power.
Brassington had blamed former Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindyal, for the woes of the Vreed-en-Hoop plant because of poor planning and project management.
Dindyal has asked to leave a few weeks ago after he clashed with Deputy CEO, Colin Welch, over the suspension of two senior managers. Welch has been appointed Interim CEO.
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