Deadline passes and no GPL meters presented for testing

May 30, 2017 News

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The deadline for the arrival of smart meters for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Power Utility Upgrade Project (PUUP) has passed and the meters have not been presented to the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS)

for accuracy testing.
China National Machinery Import (CMC) was awarded the US$23M (G$4.6B) dollar project to rehabilitate the electricity distribution network of GPL. CMC is partnering with China Sinogy Electric Engineering Co. Limited to complete the project.
According to the power company, it had formally requested sample meters from CMC and gave the Chinese contractor up to May 15, 2017 to deliver the goods.
However, the deadline has passed and the GNBS has not encountered any of the smart meters. This was confirmed yesterday when Public Relations Officer of GNBS, Lloyd David was contacted. He said that the Legal Metrology and Standards Compliance Department (LMSCD) will have to test the meters when they arrive.
The GNBS was first contacted on May 3, and David had said that the only meters which the entity currently tests are the post and pre-paid meters which are currently being used across Guyana. The GNBS is only required to conduct accuracy tests and is not responsible for verifying the quality and other characteristics of the smart meters.
According to David yesterday, the position remains the same, whereby those two types of meters are the only ones which GNBS is currently testing for the accuracy of data recorded in terms of electricity consumption by customers.
GPL had said that the smart meters must successfully pass the accuracy tests before CMC would be allowed to proceed with the procurement of the required quantity of meters. Further, GPL had said that two brands of meters were presented by CMC and one was chosen. However, it appears as though the GNBS had played no role in testing the chosen brand before CMC moves to procuring the items.
The electricity company had said that the contract for the project was established between itself and CMC, and provides for the submission of sample materials to ensure compliance with the specifications stipulated in the Tender Document.
Such materials include but are not limited to meters, conductors, transformers, cables, connectors, distribution boxes and insulators. GPL had said that this process is to ensure that the materials to be procured will satisfy the expected standards.
Based on information provided, the specifications apply to newly manufactured single-phase and three-phase socket-type static watt-hour post-paid meters for direct connections to measure alternating electrical energy and power consumption. In an interview with this publication a few weeks ago, Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Technical of GPL, Elwyn Marshall, had explained that it is standard procedure for meters to be tested.
GPL had defended the contract award to CMC by saying that the Tender Document published for Lot A of the PUUP was given the ‘no objection’ by the Inter-American Development Bank, in accordance with the Bank’s policy.
Further, the company said that the evaluation process and report were also given the ‘no objection’ approval from the Bank, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and lastly, Cabinet’s approval, in the last quarter of 2016.
When it was announced that the contract was awarded to CMC, several objections were raised since the Chinese company was involved in the construction of seven sub-stations, running new high-powered transmission lines along the coastland and the laying of two submarine cables across the Demerara Harbour Bridge.
That cable was damaged under unknown circumstances which resulted in the East Demerara and Berbice without additional power being supplied by the newly built Vreed-en-Hoop power station for a number of months.
The award of the new project to CMC was also questioned, since the cost is $1B over the engineer’s estimate. This particular contract is part of a larger US$64M project. GPL has already advertised in the newspapers for bidders to compete for Lot B of the project.
After the project is implemented, the power company expects to record a sustained trend in overall loss reduction, an improved and accountable management performance against consistent key performance indicators and within minimum international standards and a more modern, efficient and reliable operational system.
New lines for medium and low voltage distribution network will target areas in Berbice and Demerara. The contract is essentially for the rehabilitation of 328 kilometres of GPL’s electricity distribution network.

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