By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — Amid soaring temperatures and severe power grid constraints driven by El Niño conditions, the Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation, in collaboration with Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), has announced emergency capacity expansions and major transmission upgrades to stabilize the national grid.
Following the commissioning of a new 9.3 MW unit at Garden of Eden, available national generation capacity increased from 256 MW to 266.3 MW. With peak demand currently fluctuating between 235 MW and 240 MW, officials report an operational reserve margin of 26.3 MW.
Regional Interventions Across the National Grid
To mitigate load shedding and reinforce vulnerable corridors, the government outlined key generation and transmission interventions across administrative regions:
- Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice): The Hinterland Electrification Company Inc. (HECI) reached an agreement with BOSAI Minerals Group to supply an additional 3 MW of power to the Linden grid to ease shortfalls during peak hours (1:00 PM–3:00 PM and 7:00 PM–9:00 PM).
- Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica): The operational powership is currently supplying 70 MW directly into the Georgetown grid, with an extra 5 MW from steam operations scheduled for integration by August 30. Additionally, works have commenced on planting poles for the F5 Feeder along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway to alleviate thermal line overloads.
- Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara): To relieve an overloaded submarine link where demand reached 41 MW against local generation of 26.1 MW, contractors began laying a second riverbed cable from the Princes Street Substation to Vreed-en-Hoop to safely transfer 7 MW of power.
- Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam): Tender evaluations are in their final stage for 8 MW of new capacity, supported by an additional 2 MW unit diverted from GMI mining operations to allow overdue overhauls on existing Caterpillar generator sets.
- Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne): A 2.2 MW generating unit was installed to stabilize local voltage and support regional distribution.
Questions Over Preparedness Amid Early El Niño Warnings
The emergency measures follow prior warnings issued in April 2026 by the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), which alerted regional governments to prepare for severe heatwaves and drought compounding infrastructure vulnerabilities throughout 2026 and 2027.
With temperatures projected to remain elevated into November, public health officials continue to advise residents to practice heat safety and hydration as utilities work to prevent widespread outages.
