Line trip results in widespread power outages

The Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) has blamed a trip on the transmission line linking the Kingston Power Station and Sophia sub-station for interrupting the power supply to customers within West Demerara, sections of the East Coast of Demerara and Georgetown yesterday.

A press release from GPL stated that the trip occurred around 10.59 am.

“During our restoration efforts, customers within Kingston and Cummingsburg experienced two subsequent outages while attempts were made to repower and re-synchronize the system,” the release added.

GPL said it was able to fix the issue and restore power to most areas by 1.30 pm, except for those from Bagotville to Canal #1 and Parfaite Harmony, West Bank Demerara, where power was restored at 5.25 pm.

“Our Company remains cognizant of the inconveniences these interruptions cause and sincerely offer our apologies, especially to the customers along the WBD,” it added.

In a statement in November last year, GPL said on November 6 it effectively completed maintenance on the 69 kv transmission line and structures carrying 11 kV and 13.8 kV lines along the corridor linking the Kingston Power Stations to the Sophia Substation.

Despite this work, shutdowns and blackouts continued after November 7. The blackouts continued sporadically into the new year.