GPL hopes subsea cable repairs could be completed in a week

The Guyana Power and Light Inc. is hoping that work on the severed submarine cable across the Demerara River could be completed in another week’s time.

On Wednesday, the company’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Samaroo Ramtahal stated that since Sunday, engineers have been trying to lift the other end of the cable in Vreed-en-Hoop.

“There are two ends of the cable that burst, one end from Kingston which we managed to raise last Sunday, and since then we’ve been working on raising the Vreed-en-Hoop side of the cable so that we can have the Chinese company splice the cables together.”

Cable splicing is the process of joining two cable ends together while maintaining the cable’s original design features.

GPL’s electromechanical engineer, Mr. Kurt Baptiste, explained that as a result of the alignment and tide, retrieving the cable on Vreed-en-Hoop’s end has proven to be challenging.

“The ship’s anchor dragged the cable off course to the southern side, so it’s very difficult to get it back in line because of the tide. We found the capsule for the splice, but because of how it was retrieved we don’t want to put pressure on it.”

The cable will be tested once the ends have been joined to ensure it reaches required standards before it is placed back into the river. Mr. Baptiste stated that the cable would be placed approximately six feet below the river bed.

The DCEO expressed his hope this is done in “another five to six days.”

The 69kV submarine cable link between the Vreed-en-Hoop and Kingston substations was severed by a ship’s anchor late last month.