Power problems

Nothing exposes the backwardness in this country and its stymied promise more than the never ending eruptions of power problems. What should have been a stable system humming along with the occasional interruption continues to be volatile and with an alarming number of shutdowns of the entire DemeraraBerbice Interconnected System (DBIS). Citizens have a right to be incensed considering the damage to equipment, disruption of their routines, interruption of the study schedules of their children and the psychological stress that goes with all of that. The already struggling business community has larger overheads because of the unreliability of the power supply and higher costs as a result. More of them may contemplate migration from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) with attendant risks to both sides. Added to all of this, an unstable power supply continues to be a key drag on the investment climate. Investors will simply not risk major outlays if they feel that the power system is not reliable or cost effective. It should be of great concern to all, particularly the 18-month-old government, that the 50th anniversary of the independence of this country is being celebrated amid such a brittle supply.

Coming in the backdrop of reports that GPL is contemplating not renewing the contract of Finnish company, Wartsila to manage the major power generators – for which it is the manufacturer - the latest round of problems should give pause to all stakeholders to carefully consider what is at stake here. Any decision must contemplate whether savings from not renewing the Wartsila management contract is worth a possible deterioration or compromising of the generators.

What continues to be a major concern for GPL and the country is the poor state of the transmission and distribution (T&D) system. Therefore, no matter how much power is produced by GPL generators, GPL’s customers face a risk of the loss of power even if for short periods. One of the worst manifestations of this would have been on October 18 when there were three distinct shutdowns of the DBIS within four hours and there was loss of access to a whopping 32 megawatts of power or 23 % of total generation. This led to lengthy emergency blackouts in various parts of the country.

For over four decades, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other donor agencies and friendly countries have poured huge sums - a significant portion of which were loans that had to be repaid - into the revamping of the transmission and distribution system without

yielding the results that were expected. A series of substations were constructed via a US$40m loan in 2010 from the Export-Import Bank of China, yet for what is a relatively small network, the failures continue to be high and disruptive.

Among other things, that Chinese loan was to have seen significant upgrading of transmission lines from Kingston, Georgetown to Versailles, West Bank Demerara via submarine cables, Sophia to Georgetown, Sophia to Onverwagt and overhead cables from Versailles to Edinburgh, West Coast Demerara. It was also to facilitate the construction of seven new substations at Georgetown, D’Urban Backlands, Diamond, Good Hope, Mahaica, Versailles, Edinburgh and upgrades to Onverwagt and Sophia. The submarine link between Georgetown and Versailles was severed in a maritime accident this year and major repairs now have to be done.

The government and GPL have now entered an expensive consultancy arrangement with Canadian company, Manitoba Hydro International Limited under another of these large donor-funded programmes for GPL – the Power Utility Upgrade Programme which is being co-financed by the IDB and the European Union. One hopes that the fragile T&D system will really see significant improvements as 830 kilometres of GPL’s network has been targeted. This is imperative otherwise GPL will continue to be dogged by absurdities like losing access – even if for a brief period - to over one fifth of the power it generates.

One other immediate area of attention for GPL must be the 69 KVa line. It has been associated with numerous trips and shutdowns of the power system. This cannot continue. The contractor involved in this project should be summoned immediately to

provide an explanation on what has been happening. It is unclear if under this China Exim Bank— funded project there is such a thing as a defects liability period or provision for liquidated damages. The ongoing problems with the 69 KVa line demand urgent attention.

Also worthy of mention in this concatenation of trouble facing GPL is the collapse of power in one of Guyana’s newest towns, Bartica. This has been a great embarrassment to the administration given the attention that has been placed on the town and its positioning as the flag bearer for green energy. The power generators at Bartica were not under the control of Wartsila. They were under the control of GPL. One is tempted to say that the simultaneous collapse of three Caterpillar generators at Bartica and the threat of 31 consecutive hours of blackout is right out of the playbook of GPL’s predecessor, the Guyana Electricity Corporation in the 1990s. Who in GPL and at the Bartica station were responsible for the maintenance of these three generators? How come all the generators developed problems at the same time leading to the worst case scenario? The board of GPL and its acting CEO should be interested in supplying answers to help assure the public that incompetence and poor management weren’t factors in this case. It is also supremely ironic that in the aftermath of the Bartica anger, GPL will now have to purchase a diesel fuel power generator when President Granger and others have placed such great emphasis on transforming Bartica into a model green and clean energy town.

All of this leads one to wonder whether GPL would have been in a position to handle power entering the grid from the proposed Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.