Latest update August 2nd, 2026 12:45 AM
Latest News
- Govt. backs down on Barima memorial plan
- ‘Billions flow overseas while Guyana gets nothing’ – Glenn Lall says in fresh broadside against gold deals
- “Bones, not concrete’: Families of Barima victims demand their dead
- Israeli strikes kill four across Gaza, destroy medical supply warehouse
- Oil’s curse is hanging over the World’s fastest-growing economy – Bloomberg report
Turkish company proposes to use offshore gas to provide electricity to Guyana – Jagdeo
…as gas-to-energy project delayed
Kaieteur News- Turkish company Karpowership has proposed a plan to use the offshore natural gas currently available from the Stabroek Block to generate electricity until the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project is completed.
Earlier this year, it was disclosed that the first phase of the US$2 billion GTE project has been further delayed to 2026. At his press conference on Thursday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo confirmed that while the Wales project is still ongoing, government is in receipt of a proposal from Karpowership as a temporary measure.
The Turkish firm, which already supplies power to Guyana through powerships stationed in Berbice and Demerara, is offering to deploy a floating power plant capable of generating 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity using the country’s natural gas reserves from the Stabroek Block, where oil production is being carried out by American oil company ExxonMobil and its partners Hess and CNOOC.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
He noted that the proposal is with Prime Minister Mark Phillips and disclosed that a decision has not been made yet.
According to the Vice President, the proposal could save the country as much as US$1 million per day by replacing expensive heavy fuel with natural gas-based generation. “If we could generate 300 megawatts of power from say the use of a barge until the power plant is ready that that would save us about a million US per day because to buy the (heavy fuel) to generate 300 megawatt of power it will cost us about a million US per day,” the Vice President explained.
Jagdeo pointed out that the transmission infrastructure must first be able to absorb and distribute the full capacity. He said, “Right now they’re studying one issue. The one issue is that if they (Karpowership) generate 300 megawatts of power using our gas now immediately…if we can use all of it, bring it in the transmission main and distribute it, then it’s a great proposal, it’s a great proposal.”
However, he added, “If we can’t use all of it and we have to pay for it and can’t use it because they would want you to pay for all of it, a big facility they’ll bring down, then it wouldn’t make sense.”
Karpowership’s offer would see the Turkish company bringing in its own barge, which could be operational in about 90 days once given the green light. This temporary solution is being considered as the completion timeline for the Wales project slips further. In February, head of the GTE Taskforce, Winston Brassington, confirmed that the power plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility at Wales are now expected to come on stream in 2026, despite initial promises for late 2025.
Disputes with the contractor, Lindsayca/CH4, have further complicated the final cost and schedule. Brassington had previously assured that once operational, the project would cut electricity costs by 50%, delivering power at 12 US cents per kilowatt-hour, down from the current 24 to 30 US cents.
Meanwhile, the government had already turned to temporary powership solutions to ease the country’s persistent power woes. Last November, there was a signing of a second agreement between the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) and UCC Holdings for a second powership.
The deal for the second powership is for the company to supply an additional 75 megawatts of power to the national grid. Guyana’s first powership is being rented from the same company for a period of two years. That contract was signed between GPL Inc. and UCI, a subsidiary of UCC Holdings, a company incorporated in the state of Qatar. UCC Holdings reportedly has a strategic alliance with Karpowership International, a Turkish company. That deal is for some 36 megawatts of power. Karpowership arrived in May and was set up at Everton, Berbice, Region Six. For the first vessel, Guyana had to pay a mobilization fee of US$1M to get the ship here, and the contract, according to GPL, includes the provision of operation and maintenance services as part of the agreement.
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Similar Articles
Blunt of the day
Sports
Features/Columnists
Sir. Ronald Sanders
The GHK Lall Column
Weekend Cartoon
