Guyana forced to extend powership deal

Mar 29, 2026 News

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– as Wales gas project further delayed

(Kaieteur News) – Guyana is set to extend its contract with Karpowership, the Turkish company the country is renting two powerships from at a daily charge of approximately U.S.$235,000 given the extended delay of the Wales Gas Project.

This is according to Head of Executive Management of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. Kesh Nandlall. Nandlall told Kaieteur News that the contract has to be renewed or the country will face more power outages.

He disclosed that the contract for the first powership expires in May.

“Yes, we are planning to renew. If we, don’t you would get blackout,” he told Kaieteur News noting that the cost being paid by Guyana is likely to remain unchanged.

“We were negotiating that at the moment… but it’s likely to be the same,” he added.

The Wales Gas Project, which was initially scheduled for completion in 2024, has seen several delays. Through this project, the government has promised that electricity cost would be slashed by 50 per cent for citizens. It is important to note that though the project is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2026, government has said it will not generate electricity at full capacity until mid-2027.

On March 28, Kaieteur News reported that the incomplete Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project is costing Guyana a whopping $126 million daily.

Interim Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), David Patterson blasted the government for its failed management of the Wales gas project at his party’s virtual press conference on Thursday.

In opening remarks, Patterson, the former Minister of Public Infrastructure who held responsibility for power generation, said that the mega initiative was priced at around U.S.$1.7 billion with the pipeline pegged at U.S.$1 billion and the power plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility costing another U.S.$759 million.

It is important to note that the project also includes consultancy, supervision and transmission and distribution costs, along with other related expenses for arbitration, legal fees, land acquisition, site preparation and others. Stakeholders believe that the price tag could exceed U.S.$3 billion but Patterson now contends that the cost to rent two power ships must also be taken into consideration.

He said, “adding to this already inflated project cost is the government’s decision to hire two power ships to compensate for delays in the gas to shore project. These ships come with high rental fees, fuel costs, maintenance and operational charges currently costing G$187 million per day.”

In a telephone interview with Kaieteur News, Patterson listed the expenses related to the powerships currently being rented by the government.

He explained that in addition to the daily rental fee of $48.8 million for the two barges, Guyana is also saddled with a daily fuel cost of $72.6 million and $4.2 million daily for transportation expenses. As such, he pointed out that Guyana is paying close to $126 million daily to generate power at the ships.

Patterson argued that these costs were never included in the original price of the Wales project, yet they fall directly on the backs of taxpayers.

“The hiring of these ships is a direct consequence of the project’s failure to meet its promised timelines-and must be added to the true cost of the gas to shore initiative,” the former member-of-parliament noted.

According to a document seen by this publication, which was provided to the National Assembly on April 22, 2025, during the consideration of the 2025 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure Guyana should have spent an eye-watering $26,242,097,093 on fuel for the two power ships from Turkish company Karpowership in 2025.

The Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, had promised to provide data following a request from former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.

Under Programme 023- Power Generation Patterson had requested a breakdown on the allocation of fuel for power ship one and two and the Colombia power station.

According to the figures in the document, to generate a total of 788,400 megawatt hours the two ships would need 1,172,255 barrels of fuel at the above listed cost.

Rental costs for the ships were also provided. It was revealed that the total daily cost to rent both ships is $48,847,450. Therefore, the first year Guyana will be paying $17,829,319,104. The two years combined would cost the country $35,658,68,208 or U.S.$165,854,131.

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• GPL, GTE, Karpowership, powership, Wales

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