-demand exceeding feeder capacity
The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) has reiterated that when its new 20.7 MW plant at Kingston is ready some time after September, it would solve the problem of capacity shortfalls and it appealed to West Demerara to conserve power as demand there is exceeding the feeder capacity.

Construction of GPL’s new 20.7MW plant at Kingston is moving apace and commissioning is expected in late September.
“This exercise would take a number of weeks but when this plant achieves commercial operation,  the capacity shortfalls that we are now experiencing and which is the reason for most of the load shedding would be solved,” GPL  said in a press release.

It has also  acknowledged that consumers  in Demerara have been experiencing “an inordinate level  of unscheduled load shedding over the past weeks.”    GPL said  that  while a weekly load shedding guide is published in the print media every Sunday,  invariably significantly  more load shedding is done.

According to GPL, the  weekly  load shedding guide is compiled based on forecast generation availability, which generally varies between 63 and 66 MW.  And this would normally allow all circuits to be powered during the day but requires about 4 MW load shedding during the evening peak.

However, the reality is that  particularly over the past two weeks  the demand during business hours has exceeded 65 MW, making it necessary to  load-shed  during this period also, GPL stated.

The company noted that it had indicated before that over 26 MW of the potential 75 MW capacity in Demerara consists of either high speed or old units which are beyond their retirement.   While previously it was possible to undertake maintenance during the day and return units to service for the evening peak,   GPL said this cannot be done now without load shedding  as a result of the abnormally high demand.

The company assured that every effort is being made to provide  a supply in keeping with its load-shedding  schedule, adding that consumers can assist in this endeavour  by conserving electricity.  “Whatever you can do to reduce your power consumption would certainly help,” GPL urged.

Meanwhile, the company noted that consumers on the West Coast were experiencing regular power interruptions, particularly during the evening peak demand,  but this has since reduced significantly.   The interruption started when the demand for power on the West Coast exceeded the allowable capacity on  the feeder.

Initially it was thought that a fault on the feeder was causing protection equipment to operate but diligent checks and evaluation confirmed  that the demand for power had exceeded the allowable capacity on the feeder.

GPL said further that while it undertakes various interventions to manage the increased load,  it is appealing to consumers on the West Coast to conserve electricity use, particularly during the evening peak period from 18:00-21:00 hrs.