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Govt. to take back privately owned lands to expand GPL’s distribution grid
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Government has moved to acquire scores of acres of land behind Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) to Garden of Eden EBD.
The order was made under the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes Act and signed by Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill on Tuesday last.
The purpose of the acquisition as identified by Minister Edghill points to the construction on land declared as public works, specifically the construction of a 230 kilovolt (kv) overhead Double Circuit Transmission line between the two identified locations.
The lands have since been identified as shown on a plan prepared by the surveys Division of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.
It was noted that the land to be acquired would firstly be a 100 metres wide strip of land running north to south along the eastern part of the entire Plantation Friendship, having an area of approximately 80 acres.
This is in addition to a three other parcels of identified land totalling 16 acres at Garden of Eden.
One of the existing GPL generating plants
Only recently it was announced that as the administration prepares for the commissioning of the 300-megawatt (MW) Wales gas-to-shore power plant’s late 2024 completion, government has commenced plans to upgrade the GPL distribution grid.
Government at present is awaiting evaluation of tenders for the installation of new electricity lines and substations, the Office of the Prime Minister announced.
“We are moving to modernise the grid, to install the new transmission lines and substations for the integration…,” the Office of the Prime Minister is quoted in sections of the media saying.
He reportedly said that the tender is already out for the lines’ transmission upgrade.
This publication had recently reported that as part of the proposed gas fired plant being pursued by the Guyana Government, it will require the power to be evacuated from that facility and sent to GPL’s Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS), using high voltage cables.
According to a study conducted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the least costly alternative amounts to just over US$80M to install a combination of 69KV and 230KV power lines to take the electricity from the power plant to the GPL Sophia substation.
According to the findings of the study done by K&M Advisors, it was recommended that GPL construct a 69KV-only evacuation system for initial (lower) plant output, over a single 1-927 AAAC line constructed between Good Hope and Columbia, and a single 69KV line between the plant and New Sophia.
It was noted that when those line capacities are projected to be reached, the 230KV evacuation system should be constructed to augment the 69KV system. Such a design, according to the group, would cost some US$84,672,000.
It was noted that the utilisation of 69KV only cables, would limit the country’s future expansion as it relates to the Arco Norte proposal.
That proposal sees an interconnected grid being set up between Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and northern Brazil.
The administration is currently looking for private partners “in designing or utilising the outputs from an NGL (Natural Gas Liquids)/LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) facility and related facilities.”
According to a recent request by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the proposed partners are expected to partake in the design, construction, and financing of a power plant fuelled by natural gas, where the power will be delivered into GPL’s distribution grid.
The proposed plant is set to be constructed at Wales, West Bank Demerara at the Wales Development Zone (WDZ), which has been identified as the termination point for the pipeline from the Liza Area in the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana.
The WDZ encompasses over 14,000 plus acres of land of which approximately 1,300 acres will be set aside for heavy industry/gas-related investments.
The private partners will also be expected to take part in the operations of the establishment of a power plant to generate 150 MW, with an additional 150 MW as a second phase in addition to the establishment of an industrial park comprising industries that can utilise gas, steam and/or electricity.
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