‘Pay $3.4M more daily or face blackouts’ – Powership company demands

Jun 02, 2026 News

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…as Wales gas project fails to come onstream since 2024 to cut electricity bills by half

(Kaieteur News) – Karpowership, the Turkish power company that was hired by Guyana to provide additional electricity to the national grid, pending the startup of the delayed Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project, is demanding an additional $3.4M daily from the Government of Guyana (GoG) to continue its service.

The company’s contract with the GoG ended on 21^st May, 2026. Recognising the crisis they are in, the GoG desperately wrote to the company on May 22, begging for an additional 30-day extension to hash out a new contract.

The powership operators however flatly rejected the government’s plea, informing that it could not facilitate such a lengthy extension, granting instead a limited one-week window which closed on Monday, 1^st June,2026.

Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson who held responsibility for power generation between 2015 and 2020, on Monday revealed that the company originally agreed to supply Guyana with 36-megawatts (MW) of electricity at US$0.076 per Kilowatt (KW).

It is now demanding US$0.095/KW- the same rate Guyana is currently paying for the second power ship, stationed in the Demerara River. That vessel provides 60-MW of electricity to the national grid.

As such, Patterson told this newspaper, “This means that they are demanding a US$0.019/KW – in money terms they will be getting an additional US$15,760 (G$3.4M) per day from this increased rental fees.”

Under the now expired energy contract, Guyana was renting power at US$0.076/KW, forking out US$23,008,665.6 on an annual basis.

The new demands by Karpowership will add about US$5.8M in rental fees, driving up Guyana’s annual bill for that vessel to US$28,780,832.

“The power ship owners are holding the GoG to ransom because they are aware of this government’s incompetence,” the former minister argued.

With its back up against the wall due to gross incompetence and unmatched corruption at the Wales project, he argued that the promised delivery of cheaper electricity remains distant. Patterson pointed out that the project has no firm end date and lacks any guarantee of providing its promised objectives.

Patterson added that Guyana’s current peak demand, as at May 2026, is some 205 MW while the country’s total generating capacity with all units working is 250 MW. Consequently, he pointed out, “So when the 36MW stops providing power – the country will only have 214MW – way below the industry established reserve level of 15% above your peak demand, meaning that we should have at least 236MW power generation.”

The new yearly rental of US$28,760,832 at an average exchange rate of G$215 means Guyana will be losing a whopping G$6.2B due to incompetence, as pointed out by the former Member of Parliament.

Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar did not respond to questions from Kaieteur News on Monday, regarding whether a new agreement has been inked with the power company.

Although recently touting his availability to the media via phone call and messages, President Irfaan Ali too did not respond to messages from Kaieteur News on the issue.

A damning joint letter dated 25^th May, 2026, sent by Karadeniz Powership Yasin Bey Company Limited and Urbacon Concessions Investments to minister Indar highlights the chilling reality of Guyana’s energy crisis.

The foreign entity threatened to pull its services if government fails to meet its demands by 1^st June, 2026. The operators demanded that the government moves swiftly, stating that “alignment and unification of the commercial terms and pricing structure across all country operations remain essential requirements for the continuation of the arrangement.”

They ominously concluded that they trust the matter will be settled “to avoid any interruption to operations.”

While Guyana continues to be bullied into submission by foreign companies, the government remains tightlipped on the financial arrangement that is milking the national treasury dry. At the heart of foggy transaction is the delayed GTE project which government promises will come online by the end of this year- a timeline that energy experts questions.

The two-year delay in the project will cost the country more than double the cost of the Wales development which was initially pegged at US$759M.

On May 28, this publication reported that these delays are likely to cost the nation an eye-watering US$884M more.

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• blackouts, Electricity bills, gas project, GTE, powership

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