Extensive rehab underway on Berbice power line
Stabroek News
March 27, 2004
Residents on the lower Corentyne will suffer some inconvenience in the coming weeks while the GPL carries out an extensive rehabilitation exercise on the transmission line connecting the Canefield Power station with the sub-station at Number 53 Village.
According to a GPL press release the rehabilitation work is being conducted in two phases, the first of which began on Tuesday.
The first phase of this exercise is expected to end late April while the second stage will be conducted with the same objective of avoiding or minimising inconvenience to customers, the release said.
The transmission line is vital to maintaining quality power supply to the lower Corentyne especially during the periods when the demand for power increases.
According to the release, work on the transmission line is progressing according to schedule.
The line has to be de-energised five days per week between 6.30 am and 5.30 pm for rehabilitation. And it is energised again at the end of each day in time for the evening peak demand when it is most needed, the release said.
But lower Corentyne customers between Auchlyne and Moleson Creek are receiving power during regular hours from three Caterpillar generators at the Number 53 Village sub-station. Their power supply is supplemented after 6 pm each evening with power from the Canefield Station via the transmission line.
This rehabilitation exercise involves replacement of approximately 105 fifty-foot transmission poles and more than 450 insulators and other pole top components. The porcelain insulator units are being replaced by polymer units, a relatively new material that is now being used internationally. It has proven to be more durable and less susceptible to cracks and pollution, the release noted.
This phase will be followed by a more comprehensive programme to replace every insulator on the 35-mile transmission line and this project should be completed by the fourth quarter of this year, the release added.