─ to be operational by August
─ minor civil and mechanical works to be done

With the mission of providing reliable electricity to all Guyanese, the government through the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) will soon officially open its third power plant for the year; this time in Bartica, Region Seven.

In an exclusive interview with the Department of Public Information, Project Engineer with oversight for the new Bartica Power Plant, Julian Reddy provided an update on works to be done at the site.

Engineer Reddy explained, “the civil works are approximately 90 percent complete. The mechanical works are also 90 percent complete. The next phase that we are looking at is to have the engine manufacturers here on the 30th. We have confirmed this with them to begin test runs and trials.”

The $800Million power station will be sufficiently powered by three 1.1 megawatt high-speed diesel engines, which will have a total output of 3.3 megawatts of electricity. This is expected to meet the demand of the residents of Bartica.

The civil engineer also cited a few challenges faced during the project. “Last year we encountered a challenge with the closing of the sandpit. This caused some delays of the project also and the rain again sometime when the project started,” the Project Engineer said.

The older power plant had faced significant failures due to the ageing engines. Reddy stated GPL’s vision for the new power plant. “So, we expect that with these new gensets to have better reliability to the customers to serve them 24/7 without any sort of interruptions,” the engineer mentioned.

While the power generation needs will be met, minor interruptions to the power supply, which will aid in the maintenance of transmission lines may occur. The state-of-the-art power plant will be completed by August and was designed with the future in mind. For the year thus far, GPL had its power plants in Anna Regina and Canefield commissioned. Those power plants produce 5.4 megawatts and 5.5 megawatts respectively.

Images: Marceano Narine
Source: DPI, Guyana, Thursday, June 20, 2019