GPL says fibre optic cable should be in operation November

The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) yesterday said that the submarine cable across the Demerara River which was damaged earlier this year should be back in operation in November.

Damage to the cable has meant that 16 Megawatts (MW) cannot be transmitted from Vreed-en-Hoop, West Demerara to the power grid in Georgetown.

In a statement, GPL said that “Significant efforts continue to be injected into the repair of the damaged cable. An integral component ‘splicing Kit’ is en route to Guyana. The cable is projected to be in operation during November 2016.”

On Monday evening, two units at Canefield and Onverwagt in Berbice developed mechanical and control problems respectively and were consequently removed from service. As a result, six MW were unavailable to meet the evening’s peak demand and thus necessitated load shedding in Berbice.

GPL said that it is important to note, that there is currently sufficient generation capacity within East Demerara and Berbice even with the damage to the submarine cable. However, should any of the generators within East Demerara and Berbice develop any problem load shedding may result.