UPDATE: 46.5 megawatts of electricity to be lost with shutdown of East Bank power plant

Prime Minister Brigadier Mark Phillips Friday evening said the decision to shut down the Garden of Eden power plant on the East Bank of Demerara was based on safety. The shutdown means that there may be blackouts as the power company tries to solve the problem – and that may take days or even weeks, the Prime Minister said.

The unavailability of 46.5 MWs will impact the available generation capacity within the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) and result in load shedding in the following areas on Friday night.

EAST BANK DEMERARA

Garden of Eden to Timehri – 18:00 to 22:00 hrs

WEST COAST DEMERARA

Leonora to DeKendren – 18:00 to 22:00 hrs

EAST BANK ESSEQUIBO

Boerasiria to Naamryck -18:00 to 22:00 hrs

“I want the people of Guyana to understand that this is from a safety precaution and is necessary  that we shut down these plants to do some further checks,” The Prime Minister stated.

He said that 46.5 megawatts of electricity will be lost because of the shutdown. Given that peak power demand is about 175 megawatts, the Prime Minister said there may be some “load shedding” or blackouts.

He commended the engineers and technicians at the plant for their work in assessing the problem early and advising management of the need to shut down.

The News Room previously reported that the plant is being shut down as engineers fear a massive explosion.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer Bharrat Dindyal told reporters that the heavy fuel being used is getting into the exhaust system and were that to continue with the plant running there could be a catastrophe.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have to shut down the plant.

“…. We have a situation that presents a real danger to life,” he said.