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Guyana to rent second power ship for GPL
Guyana to rent second power ship for GPL
Kaieteur News- The Government of Guyana will be renting a second power ship for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) which will add 60 megawatts to the grid. The contract was awarded to Karpowership for a period of two years. This was disclosed by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday, during his weekly press conference at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.
Jadgeo was asked by a reporter to provide an update on the power ship since Christmas season will soon be here.
“… The only one that went to the cabinet… I think it went to the cabinet, the same company that came in…the power ship that is the only one because the rest were for supply of equipment which will take a long time to establish. All the other bids were for sale of power, but they had to come and establish a plant. So that has been settled I think it’s gone to the cabinet today and they would sign up,” the Vice President said.
A project has already started to construct 5km of transmission main and this should be completed within six weeks’. Materials are often not in country hence the government is currently utilizing spare materials that are being borrowed. Jagdeo did not say where the materials are being borrowed from.
Meanwhile, the transformers, concrete poles and other materials are being procured.
The VP said that, “it may take a month to six weeks to get the power ship in and so we are hoping still before Christmas the power ship could be here and turn on. That would be major… it will be 60 MW into the system and the possibility when we build another piece of transmission main 75 MW. So that will be for two years too like the 36 in Berbice is for two years.”
This contract will take Guyana just beyond the date set for the Gas-to-Energy project to come on stream. Jagdeo said too that once the 60 MW is added to the grid some of the old equipment currently being used will have maintenance works done as the additional power is projected to bring major relief.
“The bids came in at 11.17c per kilowatt hour which is high, so it will be substantially reduced because it was lowered, I think to about 9.5c per kilowatt hour. The bid came in at 11.17c but the power ship has spare capacity so in case we need more they will be able to get that,” he disclosed.
Currently, the government is selling power now at about 22 to 23 US cents per kilowatt hour, “if this comes in at 9.5 and they told me that the cost of the fuel is about 13 US cents per kilowatt hour so that takes us to about 22.5 cents per kilowatt hour for the cost. So that’s where we are,” Jagdeo explained.
On September 21, this publication reported
(Guyana to rent second power ship for GPL)
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