Ministry of Sport, GPL distance themselves from CPL power outage

PROVIDENCE, Guyana (CMC):

THE GUYANA Power and Light Company Inc (GPL) and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport have distanced themselves from the embarrassing power outage which significantly affected the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) play-off contest between the Trinbago Knight Riders and Barbados Royals at the National Stadium in Providence, Guyana on Monday night.

Faulty floodlights resulted in the match being delayed by over two hours, with the Royals eventually winning by nine wickets after their innings was reduced to five overs.

Following the power outage at the National Stadium, the GPL made it clear that the stadium is powered by independent generating sets and that GPL’s technicians were only on standby to assist with any issue.

In a late-night joint statement, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the GPL explained that three of the six floodlights at the National Stadium lost power during the cricket match.

According to the statement, all CPL matches at the Providence Stadium are powered from independent generating sets located in the National Stadium and not by the GPL grid.

GPL said it has been on standby at all matches to render technical assistance to the stadium at all times.

It was explained that, when the floodlights went down, the GPL technical team on standby immediately began rendering assistance and restored power to two of three floodlights on the same circuit.

The joint statement said the stadium’s technical staff and GPL worked assiduously to restore power to the third floodlight, which had a technical fault with the underground cable feeding power to that floodlight.

A substitute cable was installed to have the floodlight operational, and that was achieved just before 11 p.m.

The Ministry of Sport and GPL have now promised that additional technical assessment will be done to avoid any reoccurrence.

There were two similar incidents involving the same flood lights at the Providence Stadium recently.

One of those incidents took place during the final of a T10 tournament and the other took place during a practice session of the Amazon Warriors cricket team.

Earlier this week, the Machinery Corporation of Guyana Limited, (MACORP) announced its role in powering the Guyana National Stadium for the CPL play-offs and final games.

In a statement issued prior to Monday’s match, MACORP said its “CAT XQC M1600 Module cutting-edge power solution is fuelling energy both on and off the field, ensuring uninterrupted electricity and powerful performance.

“With its powerful capabilities and adaptable features, the XQC1600 guarantees reliable power for the stadium, helping to maintain the electrifying atmosphere of the CPL – famously known as “the biggest party in sports”.”

Some of its features included sound-attenuated design, dual frequency capability, grid synchronisation, an impressive power capacity, ample fuel supply, and customisable circuit protection.