MACORP to supply 10MW of power by month end

Nov 07, 2020 News

– five new Wartsila generators arrive

The current PPDI-managed power plant at Garden-of-Eden, EBD that has been there since the 90’s.

Kaieteur News – By the end of November, the Machinery Corporation of Guyana Limited (MACORP) is expected to supply an additional 10MW of electricity to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL).
These and other details were shared by Vice President (VP), Bharrat Jagdeo, during a press engagement yesterday.
The VP reminded the reporters of the US$50M generating complex that Finnish company, Wärtsilä, was selected to build at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara.
The power plant, which is set to supply 46MW of energy to the grid, will operate on five of Wärtsilä’s 34DF dual-fuel engines that will initially run on liquid fuel, and on natural gas when that becomes available.
Unfortunately, however, it will take another five months before the country can utilize those US$50M engines, the VP indicated to the press at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
“Right now,” Jagdeo articulated, “the 46MW engine is here in the country, but it will have to sit and wait for as much as five months, while the civil works are being done to accommodate the foundation works for the engines. A lot of work has gone into that; to sort out the pieces.”
He went on to indicate that at that juncture, the government realized that there was not power in the system, “because when you take away some of the units for maintenance you’ll remain with a capacity that almost mirrors peak demand,” Jagdeo added.
It is in wake of the power inefficiency that the VP justified the reasoning for the additional supply of 10MW by MACORP.
“We started with Giftland for 5MW of power,” the VP reminded, while adding that the recent move for additional power supply is to ensure that the country has enough power for the Christmas holidays and the New Year, pending the establishment of the major base-load capacity.
Meanwhile, the state-owned Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) yesterday announced the arrival of five of the 9.3 Megawatt (MW) Wartsila generators.
GPL explained that these are for the new Garden of Eden power plant that is currently under construction.
“The arrival of the new units is in keeping with our company’s commitment to boost generation capacity and provide customers in the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) with reliable electricity. The new plant is on schedule to be completed and become operational during the second quarter in 2021.”