VP Jagdeo “upset” with GPL over prolonged blackout today; assures long-term solutions being developed

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has expressed that he too was “upset” with the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) over the prolonged period of power outage sections of the country experienced earlier today.

“I was upset with them because they have power in their system,” Jagdeo told reporters during a press conference today.

However, he explained that GPL informed him that they encountered a problem at the Kingston’s substation. The problem was related to ‘the batteries’, Jagdeo noted.

He further explained that the blackout had nothing to do with the unavailability of power.

Nevertheless, the Vice President noted that “until we have a modern grid with redundancies”, the country will continue to experience periods of blackouts.

Jagdeo assured that the government is committed to building out such a modern system.

The Vice President also rapped the GPL team for failing to keep the public updated in a timely manner on these important developments.

In an effort to provide cheaper, cleaner and more renewable energy to the population, the government has embarked on the transformative gas to energy project.

Under this project, the government will utilise natural gas offshore to generate up to 300 Mw of electricity.

To support this project, a number of other components are required.

One of them is a state-of-the-art control centre which is under construction at Eccles, East Bank Demerara.

In July 2024, a US$8.6 million contract was signed with Power China Caribbean to construct the facility.

This centre will employ real-time monitoring to identify and address power outages promptly. It will also enable remote disconnections.

Another component of the gas to energy project is the upgrade of the transmission and distribution lines.

Last week, contracts totalling US$442 million was signed to overhaul the existing infrastructure.