–Jagdeo affirms as GPL gears up for integration of power ship

CONSUMERS will not experience an increase in their electricity bills when the power ship is integrated into the Guyana Power and Light (GPL)’s power supply system, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the country’s Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said.

“There will be no increase in the price of electricity because of this rental,” Dr. Jagdeo affirmed during his weekly press conference on Thursday.
Contrary to any perception or belief that there would be an increase, the General Secretary said the government is already subsidising electricity at 22 cents per kilowatt.

On April 13, GPL signed a contract with Urbacon Concessions Investments, W.L.L (UCI) to charter a power ship with a total installed capacity of 36 megawatts (MWs) for a period of two years.
The contract includes the provision of operation and maintenance services as part of the agreement. UCI is a subsidiary of UCC Holdings, a company incorporated in the State of Qatar. UCC Holdings has a strategic alliance with Karpowership International, a Turkish company.

GPL issued a press statement on Thursday outlining the terms of the agreement, stating that the contract requires it to pay UCI a monthly charter fee of 6.62 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the power ship, as well as a monthly operation and maintenance fee of 0.98 US cents per kWh, based on electricity generation.

According to the power company, the power ship is expected to operate at 96 per cent availability. The GPL said that it is not required under the contract to pay a demobilisation fee.
In an interview with this publication on Tuesday, Head of the Executive Management Committee of GPL Kesh Nandlall said that preparations are underway for the arrival of the vessel.

Nandlall indicated that officials overseeing the vessel have been actively collaborating with pertinent stakeholders to streamline the logistical aspects of its arrival.
Additionally, he said engineers are on standby to facilitate the integration of the vessel into the existing energy infrastructure at Everton, Berbice seamlessly.

“We have a project plan to ensure that the site is in a ready state. And we have built the interconnection from the power ship onto the national grid. We are working on getting all of that done to be ready when the vessel arrives,” he explained.
Recently, Guyana has seen an upsurge in power outages because of aged infrastructure, lack of investments from 2015-2020, and a rapid increase in the demand for power.

Dr. Jagdeo, at last week’s news conference, acknowledged the issue, while outlining the measures the government has sought out to address the frustrations of consumers.
“We are very much aware about the problems it is causing to many people in this country; we have been inundated with complaints, and people’s lives are being disrupted because of the situation,” he said.

Dr. Jagdeo had related that equipment that was meant to be placed in reserve was being relied on.
“The reality is that a lot of the equipment that should have been in reserve are still being used now; old equipment… But we have to keep using them until the new power plant comes on stream,” the General Secretary had said.