The APNU+AFC Administration has been able to secure power purchasing agreements with Giftland Mall and Banks DIH to help the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) efficiently supply electricity. This follows on the heels of spates of power outages that have left citizens in darkness for hours on end.
Making this known today was Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon.
During his engagement with the media, Harmon said that the power purchasing agreements form part of the many initiatives that were put in place to address a damaged submarine cable that saw countrywide blackouts in recent weeks.
He noted that Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson informed Cabinet that on June 2, 2019, at approximately 21:00 hrs, there was a fault on the LS6 submarine cable linking the GPL Vreed-en-Hoop and Kingstown substations. The damage resulted in the loss of 14 megawatts of electrical power that would normally be transported to the eastern section of the interconnected Demerara-Berbice system.
Since that time, the Director-General said that Cabinet was provided with an update of the corrective measures that were taken to bring relief to citizens who were affected. Harmon said that these measures included engagement with cable manufacturers for inspections and repairs where necessary and the return of two Caterpillar units from Anna Regina to the interconnected system.
At this point, Harmon revealed that agreements for the purchasing of excess power by Giftland Mall and Banks DIH were also finalised. Both companies will provide five megawatts of power each. Harmon said the agreements are expected to be approved by the GPL Board on Monday, June 17.
Further to this, Harmon said that a proposal to purchase two Caterpillar generator units from MACORP will also be reviewed by GPL’s Board on June 17.
The Director-General was pleased to announce that a 13.8-kilovolt submarine cable was successfully installed across the Demerara River and was tested and energised on Wednesday. He said that the cable is now supplying about five megawatts of power from Vreed-en-Hoop to the eastern Demerara-Berbice connected system.
Based on the foregoing initiatives, the Director-General said that load shedding activities have been significantly reduced.