Dismantling wind turbine is not cost effective

Sep 13, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
RE: Berbice hotel moves to dismantle wind turbine, ship it back to India. I was disappointed to read in (Wednesday’s) edition of Kaieteur News that after one year, GPL still cannot figure out how to safely connect a 350 KVA wind turbine to the grid.
It is clear from the article that the Investor failed to obtain permission from GPL and GEA prior to purchasing and installing the wind turbine. While I do not condone his action, I am of the opinion that the penalty is too severe.
The Minister of Public Infrastructure is not an Engineer and it is obvious that someone at GPL gave him erroneous information based on the following statement which is attributed to him in the article.
“The Ministry had said that GPL’s existing frameworks cover the connection to its grid of either independent power producers (IPPs) supplying 10 MW and more or businesses supplying 1.5 MW and above. Patterson had said that the hotel officials were advised that it was not possible at this time for an individual to connect to the grid unless the supply met the minimum of 1.5 MW.”
The statement begs the question, if it is possible to connect a generator larger than 1.5 MW to the system, what precludes GPL from connecting a wind turbine that is smaller than 1.5 MW, only 350KVA, to the system.
The fact of the matter is that GPL has a GRID CODE which details the requirements for connecting generators, including Renewable Energy systems larger than 1.5 MW to the high voltage (69 and 13.8 KV) grid. GPL does not currently have a Distributive Energy Interconnecting Guide for Renewable Energy Generation less than 1.5 MW and this may be the reason why they claim that they cannot connect the 350 KVA wind turbine in Skeldon.
Of course, there is an international standard IEEE 1574 which can be used if the intention is to connect to the distribution network.
I would not recommend connecting the wind turbine to GPL distribution network based on the reasons already highlighted by the Minister, “a complexity which is further compounded by the weaknesses of GPL’s grid and the sensitivity of intermittent supply – requires judicious adherence to feasibility studies and grid interconnection processes”.
My recommendation would be that GPL should apply their more stringent GRID CODE for RE systems larger than 1.5 MW and connect the 350 KVA wind turbine directly to the 13.8 KV transmission line. This would mean that the Investor would have to finance the additional cost of step transformer(s) and the associated meters, control system and transmission lines.
This, I believe, would be more cost effective than dismantling and shipping the equipment back to India. The intermittent supply characteristic of the wind turbine is a valid concern, however, the SEI 10 MW Diesel plant in Skeldon is in close proximity and would be capable of providing adequate spinning reserve (5%) to prevent disruption of the system.
Regards,
T.Singh

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