GPL generators to arrive next week – Jagdeo

Noting that authorities experienced some issues due to delays, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said the generators and transformers which were purchased by the government to alleviate the issue of power outage in the country is expected to arrive in the country next week.

“…There was a delay… we asked what’s going on and they said they were some issues where some of the transformers might be delayed because they were caught up in shipping,” Jagdeo said.

The Vice President made this disclosure at his weekly press conference held at the Office of the President.

The US$27M equipment from Apan Energy was initially slated to arrive in Guyana on November 22 and installation would have been done in time for the Christmas season.

According to Jagdeo, the equipment are expected to arrive in the country by mid-December.

“…They told us definitively that this would be done between the 11 to the 15 (December),” Jagdeo said.

Once installed, Jagdeo said the equipment will add some 30 megawatts to the national grid.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar told the News Room recently said that generators and transformers were shipped separately to Guyana from different territories.

Despite the delay, Indar said once the shipments arrive, preparations are already in place for installation to commence immediately.

The country’s power company was forced to implement a load-shedding schedule across the country as it did not have the capacity to feed the increase in demand for electricity.

At present, GPL has the capacity to generate 167 megawatts. The demand at the beginning of November was 172 megawatts.

In the last week of November, Indar said GPL has recorded a decrease in its peak demand to 165 megawatts, without having to remove customers from the national grid.