THE Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) is shipping in six more containerised Caterpillar generating sets to boost its power supply and meet increased demand for the coming Christmas season.

The company yesterday announced that preparations for the imminent increase in the demand for power over the upcoming Christmas season are moving into "high gear".

The generation system in Demerara is being prepared for the arrival of six additional containerised Caterpillar sets expected late next month, it said.

Each of the sets has a capacity of 1.5 megawatts of power.

"In the meantime, major and minor maintenance activities are under way at all generating stations with the completion dates slated for early to mid December. The same holds true for the transmission and distribution system and its many components", GPL said.

A similar programme is under way in Berbice and one of the existing Caterpillar containerised sets was over the weekend shipped from Georgetown to GPL's Number 53 Village sub-station to supplement the availability of power on the middle and upper Corentyne, the company reported.

It said this 1.5MW set will enhance the total availability in the entire region and will work in tandem with a similar unit at the same location, along with the two 5MW Mirrlees Blackstone generators at Canefield.

One of the large Mirrlees sets was returned to service last month after major rehabilitative works.

"In order to ensure that all generating sets are able to withstand the increased load demanded by customers during the Christmas festivities, the existing Caterpillar set at the Number 53 Village sub-station will soon undergo a major 6-week overhaul by MACORP, the local Caterpillar dealer", GPL said.

It explained that for the duration of this overhaul, the availability of power in Berbice will be almost equal to the total demand, a situation that leaves little room for mechanical or line features.

Close attention is being paid to the performance of all sets in Berbice, including the two at Onverwagt, West Berbice, it said.

GPL anticipates that this situation may create minimal load shedding during the evening peak demand period on the Corentyne pending the return of the Caterpillar set in December.

GPL said it was confident it will be able to meet the demands for power in Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo before, during and after the imminent festive season, "just as we were able to do at Christmas 2000."