The first phase of Guyana’s Gas-to-Energy project at Wales is progressing towards an initial test firing of one of its gas turbines around December 4, as work continues to bring an initial 57 megawatts of electricity onto the national grid, Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar said yesterday.
The test will be a pivotal moment for a project that is conservatively estimated to cost around US$2b, experienced major soil issues, has been delayed by more than two years, has seen a major dispute between the government and the contractor and is yet to deliver a promised cut of 50% in power bills.
Indar gave a video update during a visit to the Wales project site, where he inspected ongoing construction and installation works as the Government seeks to bring additional generating capacity online in light of rising electricity demand.
He said Phase One of the Gas-to-Energy project is designed to ultimately deliver 300 megawatts of power to the national grid.
Four turbines have already been set up at the site, along with a steam turbine and another steam turbine that is being installed. The site also includes bullet tanks, pipe racks, foundations, hot water tanks and dry water tanks, while work is progressing on the substation.
The substation will facilitate the stepping up of electricity for transmission through the grid, Indar explained, noting the different voltage levels involved in moving the generated power into the transmission network. The immediate target, however, is to get 57 megawatts into the grid for the first time.
Indar said achieving that milestone requires several components of the gas system to be established, including a natural gas liquefaction plant and a sludge catcher, before the gas can be piped into the turbine to begin the generation process.
He described the work as a serious undertaking involving Siemens, Lipsia and EIL of India, with the companies working together in a “hands-on-deck” operation. There are currently about 1,300 workers on the Wales site, according to the minister, as construction and installation activities continue. Many of these workers are said to be non-Guyanese.
Indar said the teams are working towards approximately December 4 for the first firing of the gas turbine, explaining that this would involve gas coming through the system to start the turbine for testing before it is eventually brought online and handed over to the Government. It would mean that gas would flow for the first time through the offshore pipeline that has been unused for 21 months.
Indar said he visited the project with Prime Minister Mark Phillips and technical personnel to assess its progress because “the grid needs the power.” He pointed to high temperatures and increased electricity consumption as factors driving demand, saying usage has been spiking at particular times of the day and during hotter periods.
The minister said this increased demand is already placing pressure on the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure. He linked some of the recent outages to electricity lines carrying loads above their designed capacity.
Indar cited a transmission line in Farm which, he said, is designed to carry approximately eight megawatts but was recently carrying 10.1 megawatts, due to increased housing, commercial activity and other development in the area. He said the additional load places stress on conductors, transformers and other line hardware, eventually causing the system to trip.
He also pointed to an incident in Tuschen where four transformers caught fire, saying similar challenges are being experienced in different parts of the country.
The Government is working to address the strain through an expansion of the transmission network, with approximately 425 kilometres of additional lines being built, he said. The additional lines are intended to allow the electricity load to be distributed across multiple lines rather than placing excessive demand on a single line.
Indar acknowledged that the pace at which the transmission infrastructure is being expanded has not matched the speed at which electricity demand is increasing but noted that the government had recognised the problem and had been working to address it since last year.
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