Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, has assured the public that emergency teams are on standby to address power issues following two recent outages that affected sections of the country. The Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation, in collaboration with Guyana Power and Light (GPL), has commissioned over 30 emergency teams nationwide to manage any arising emergencies.
In an interview with reporters, Minister Indar emphasized that the teams are working around the clock to address existing weaknesses in the current electrical system. He explained, “What happens is that the current system was designed with weaknesses. It is a linear system; there is no ring system right now. We are now building it out. So when power is disrupted at one point, it shuts down and cascades, bringing down the entire system.”
This vulnerability was evident on Tuesday, December 9, when customers in Demerara and Berbice experienced an interruption in electricity supply due to a short circuit at the 69kV Transformer at the Kingston Substation. An investigation revealed that a damaged cable caused the disruption, which was isolated to safely restore power.
On Wednesday, the 69kV line linking the Edinburgh and Vreed-en-Hoop Substations tripped while transmitting approximately 15 megawatts (MW) of power. This sudden loss of generation led to a cascading effect across the grid, resulting in further service disruptions in Demerara and Berbice.
Minister Indar acknowledged that service interruptions have also been exacerbated by the operation of heavy-duty equipment in proximity to utility infrastructure. “We put 30 teams out in various parts of the country to deal with any kind of issue that may arise. But accidents do happen—trucks sometimes drive into utility poles or heavy equipment interferes with the infrastructure,” he stated.
GPL has reported an uptick in accidents involving vehicles that have disrupted service when they came into contact with its network. The utility has urged all road users, equipment operators, and contractors to be vigilant about the dangers of operating near GPL infrastructure to prevent further disruptions in service.
