President Irfaan Ali yesterday described the recent spate of electricity outages as unacceptable and said Guyana must “bite the bullet” and make massive investments in the power system, but he later sidestepped a direct question about who would be held accountable for the disruptions.
Presenting findings from an independent review by Dominican Republic company InterEnergy, Ali said the existing system was operating without sufficient reserve capacity and was unable to keep pace with rapidly increasing demand. He said electricity demand is projected to rise by 138% by 2029 and that GPL expects to add approximately 62,000 customers.
“We cannot continue with an unreliable system and a system that is not designed to do what the country wants it to do,” Ali said. “We have to bite the bullet, make the investment.” He added that Qatar – which he visited last week – had indicated a willingness to assist with the scale of investment required.
According to the President, the current generating units are being operated at or near the time when they require major overhauls, while GPL has little or no spinning reserve that would permit units to be taken out of service without threatening supply. Any additional fault can therefore trigger wider shutdowns.
Ali said the proposed response includes approximately 360 kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines, more than 10 new substations, the expansion of four existing substations, two mobile substations, a modern control centre, advanced metering, battery storage and a 230-kilovolt network. He also referred to an independent grid-reliability task force and possible restructuring of GPL.
“We cannot promise that there will never be another interruption. Every modern electricity system can experience unexpected equipment failure, but not what we are having now. Unacceptable,” he said.
The government has for years spent heavily on generation, including the rental of power ships and the acquisition of generating sets, while consumers have continued to endure widespread outages. The gas-to-energy project, repeatedly presented as the centrepiece of the government’s plan to lower electricity costs and improve reliability, has also faced delays, leaving GPL dependent on an already strained network.
Asked whether a third power ship could be brought in as a short-term measure, Ali said he would not rule out whatever the situation demanded and called for a holistic approach. He referred the question of the annual cost of the existing power ships to GPL.
Later, a reporter reminded the President that he had spoken about accountability and asked whether action was being taken over the recent disruptions. Ali did not identify any official or contractor facing disciplinary or other action.
He said there were “some very good people” in the system and others who did not pull their weight, but then shifted to the need to support technical capacity, recruit new talent, improve grid management and possibly restructure the utility. He said some GPL workers had been on duty around the clock and that the discussions under way were “very weighty.”
Discussion