Guyana is set to receive an emergency power ship scheduled to depart from Cuba tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17th, and arrive within 15 days to address the recent surge in blackouts.
Once operational, this vessel will inject approximately 36 megawatts of electricity into the national grid, offering much-needed relief.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, shared this update on Tuesday during a panel discussion at the Local Content Summit at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre in Kingston Georgetown.
The power ship will be integrated into the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) for 24 months. Preparatory work is currently underway at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) infrastructure to facilitate the connection of this vessel to the national grid.
The minister emphasised that the blackouts are temporary and outlined the government’s plan for a quick solution.
“So, the blackout is a temporary thing. It will be fixed. And there is a plan to deal with it, in the immediate term to address the shortage generation capacity, so that we can bridge until the gas to energy comes with the 300 megawatts. It will take it to a total of 500 plus megawatts,” Minister Indar said.
In addition to the power ship, the government has invested in 17 generators and six step-up transformers. The minister said that to date, 15 of these generators have been installed at the Columbia sub-station. These generators are expected to add another 30 megawatts to the grid.
The hallmark Gas to Shore project, currently underway at Wales, West Bank Demerara, is anticipated to commence operations next year, harnessing natural gas for power generation.
“All of these new developments we are talking about warehousing, new supermarkets, all of them on the grid, So, the speed of the development and the availability of how we could have gotten power fast. We bought 28.9 megawatts to install in December. We have 15 of the 17 engines now on the grid,” the minister explained.
When asked whether the current generation shortfall can potentially deter potential investors, the minister was adamant that this does not affect the country’s investment climate.
“I don’t think investors, when they come to Guyana look at what happens in the next two weeks or the next month. They look at the immediate term, but they also look at the medium and long term. They want to know that there is a plan to fix the issue when it will be fixed and that their investments are okay,” he assured.
The government has been firm on its resolve to alleviate the country’s electricity woes and is demonstrating this commitment through capacity boosting, upgrading transmission and distribution infrastructure, and fostering a smoother transition to renewable energy. [DPI]
