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Minister questions delay in GPL’s fuel shipment
One of the ministers charged with the portfolio of the power sector is unhappy with news over the weekend that there is a shortage of fuel for Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).
Repairs of GPL’s submarine cable across the Demerara River was completed recently. Immediately after that the company announced that it was facing a fuel shortage.
“I am disappointed to say the least. Was it really as a result from delays in delivery by the contracted HFO (Heavy Fuel Oil) supplier? Is this the first time such a situation has arisen? If not, what are the contingency plans? Was anyone monitoring the fuel levels?”
These were the questions asked by Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma over the weekend in a Facebook post.
It would highlight the growing exasperation over the situation at GPL which has been saddled with one problem after another, leaving citizens in darkness, time and again, over the years.
Minister Jaipaul Sharma
Consecutive administrations have found the going tough to erase the hurdles experienced by the state-owned company.
Last week, GPL said it is hopeful that a supplier for heavy fuel oil (HFO) will come through by the weekend, ending a shortage that has caused several power cuts.
The shortage had forced the state-owned power company to shut power from several communities in a scheduled manner.
According to the company, it was experiencing a shortfall in generation as a result of an inadequate supply of HFO.
This has resulted from delays in delivery by the contracted HFO supplier.
“Consequently, we are operating some of our generating sets, which are dual fired, Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and Light Fuel Oil (LFO). Unfortunately, some of the generating sets are not achieving the expected output on the LFO.”
GPL said that the reduced output from the generators has adversely impacted the company’s ability to reliably meet demand.
“GPL expects to receive supplies of HFO over the course of this weekend, which will lead to an improvement in the situation. GPL apologises for any inconvenience that may be caused to our customers as a result of this temporary situation. The company will publish any areas that would be affected.”
Shortly after those disclosures, a clearly upset Minister Sharma took to his Facebook account, making it clear that this “shocking news” is coming just after four months of GPL skating on thin ice and finally managing to resuscitate the submarine cable, a critical link between Vreed-en-Hoop and Kingston power plants which sustained damage at two locations in June and August by vessels traversing the Demerara River.
“It is only a week since GPL’s 69kV submarine cable is back in operation following the successful completion remedial work and the return of approximately 14 megawatts (MW) of power being supplied to the eastern section of the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS).”
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