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GPL seeks bids for supply of 50MW power
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc on Sunday announced that it is seeking contractors to supply a total of 50 megawatts (MW) of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) generated power to the national grid.
In an advertisement published in the daily newspapers, the power company explained that it has opened invitations for applicants to submit detailed proposal(s) to provide 50 MW generating capacity in two lots, through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). “The total capacity per Lot shall be base-load and is intended to bolster the current and forecasted demand for a period of 5 to 11 years,” the notice said.
According to the advertisement, “the required total 50 Megawatt is divided into two lots: Lot. 1- Supply of HFO- fired 25 MW gross capacity interconnected with New Sophia Substation or at the alternative Columbia Substation at 69 kV and Lot.2- supply of HFO-fired 25 MW gross capacity interconnected with Canefield Substation at 69 kV.”
GPL also pointed out that applicants are invited to explore the options of a power barge and land-based power generating facilities with ‘black-starting’ and HFO fuel storage capabilities. To this end, the minimum required usable onsite fuel storage capacity per Lot shall be 21 days, and maximum, 30 days considering the operation of each 25 MW power plant at full capacity at 100 percent availability.
Applicants shall also demonstrate their ability to deliver a complete project and be ready to commission within the shortest possible timeline, starting at nine months from the date of notice to proceed, the utility firm outlined.
This move to seek HFO-generated electricity for a five to 11-year period comes against the government’s promise to deliver 300 Megawatts of power via its much touted Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project by 2024. A number of experts and activists have questioned the feasibility of this project in the past and its ability to deliver on the promise of reducing electricity bills by 50 percent, given that the project cost has increased from an estimated US$478 to around US$2 billion.
Over the past week, there have been constant shut-downs of the Demerara Berbice Interconnected Systems (DBIS) resulting in long periods of power outages across the most populated Regions in the country. In the absence of press conferences and regular briefings by President Irfaan Ali and the rest of Cabinet, the public remains in the dark on what have been triggering the frequent blackouts in the system.
Back in April, GPL had published an Expression of Interest (EOI) in search of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to supply 50 Megawatts (MW) of electricity to the National grid, by March next year. The advertisement published in the state newspaper said, the 50 MW of power will interconnect with the 69kV (kilovolts) national grid and shall be split into two lots of 25 MW per installation. The earmarked 69 kV substations for interconnection are New Sophia and Canefield.
Although the EOI was published, the company was keen to note that the advertisement does not constitute an invitation to tender. It added that only power companies deemed qualified by GPL will receive details, guiding the next steps of the process. GPL said, “the state-owned electric utility company, invites technically and financially sound IPPs to submit an EOI to supply a total of 50 MW HFO-fired Firm Power Generating Capacity (gross) on a 24 hour basis with appropriate substations to interconnect with the 69 kV National Grid (the project) by March 2023 for a period of three years.”
Back in January 2020, GPL inked a power purchase agreement with businessman, Roy Beepat, to supply the national grid with 4.5 MW of electricity. The added power augmented the 120 megawatts that GPL was supplying to the power grid.
The proprietor of Giftland Mall had stated that his power generating system has the capacity to share some 4.5 megawatts with the Guyana Power and Light, depending on the time of day. He explained that while Giftland has 6.7MW of power, only 1.6MW is used during optimal operations.
It was later revealed that an estimated $34 million each month was being forked out to purchase the badly needed power from the Giftland Mall, to compensate for the shortfall of electricity. Beepat said that the power itself would cost around $9.9 million per month while fuel cost is estimated to be $29.5 million.
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