Statement from the Guyana Power and Light:
C&L Construction causes System-wide Shutdown
Monday, September 19, 2022: At approximately 17:23 hrs this afternoon [Monday], a truck utilized by C&L Construction Company to execute works on the Lamaha Embankment came into contact with the Company’s L5 Transmission Line on the Embankment corridor, resulting in a shutdown of the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System. The truck and the driver were taken into police custody.
The impact of the collision broke a pole supporting the L5 Transmission Line. This line is a critical link in the transfer of bulk power from our Kingston generating facility to the Control Centre at Sophia to dispatch power into the distribution network.
At the time of the accident the line was transferring approximately 20 Megawatts of bulk power to the Control Centre. The sudden loss of generation caused the Kingston, Vreed-en-Hoop and Garden of Eden Plants to go offline.
Remedial work to replace the broken pole on the Lamaha Embankment commenced immediately. Incremental restoration began at approximately 17:45 hrs in Demerara. The remaining areas in Demerara and Berbice were repowered at approximately 20:14 hrs.
GPL continues to remind the public to exercise caution when working near the Company’s network, as accidents of this nature cause unnecessary service disruption and inconvenience to customers.