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Linden gets additional 1.5 MW genset to boost power generation
(Kaieteur News) – The mining town of Linden has received an additional 1.5 MW in generator capacity to boost power supply for communities served by BOSAI, as peak demand continues to rise.
The update was provided by BOSAI’s Linden management to Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar and was confirmed in a statement on the Ministry’s Facebook page.
“Installation works, including transformer and fuel-line connections, are underway. The unit is expected to begin generating power by the middle of next week,” the statement said.
The genset that will be fully up and ready by the new week to generate power.
On 17th August, Kaieteur News reported that rolling blackouts, public frustration, and a breakdown in municipal energy planning had pushed Linden to the brink of protests, forcing the Mayor and Town Council to call an emergency town hall meeting amid questions over who truly benefits from the region’s heavily subsidised electricity.
The crisis erupted after severe load shedding was triggered by generation trips at Bosai Minerals Group Guyana (BOSAI), which occurred when local power consumption exceeded the 14-megawatt (MW) ceiling set under the current Power Purchase Agreement between the Government of Guyana, Bosai, and the Linden Electricity Company Inc. (LECI).
Speaking to Kaieteur News last Sunday, Linden Mayor Dominique Blair described a widening gap between the town’s energy capacity and its growing demand, noting that while the original agreement provided only 8 MW, the current 14 MW supply has proven inadequate for the municipality’s needs.
“And they have proposed a schedule because they’re claiming that it is the sawmillers… and when we started off, we had an MOU with both sides that both sides [would] give us eight megawatts. Currently both sides give us 14 megawatts. And the 14 megawatts is not enough for the community presently,” Mayor Blair said.
The mayor raised concerns over conflicting accounts of what — or who — is causing the grid collapse, pointing to heavy industrial sawmills and a lack of regulatory oversight. She also questioned government assurances regarding a local solar farm expected to come online by December, stating that the public remains in the dark regarding trial periods and distribution plans.
The concerns raised by local officials echo a sharp critique from APNU Member of Parliament Sharma Solomon, who described Linden’s electricity struggles as part of a broader national energy failure under the current administration.
Solomon attributed the crisis to years of poor forward planning, delays in the flagship Gas-to-Energy project, and a surge in heavy industrial consumers benefiting from Linden’s subsidised rates.
According to Solomon, electricity consumption in Linden rose from approximately 6 MW in 2005 to 12 MW in 2024, and has now reached between 14 and 14.5 MW. Over the past decade, the number of sawmills operating in and around the town grew from five to over 35, consuming industrial levels of power while paying a $12-per-kWh community concession rate — a fraction of the $63 to $65 per kWh commercial rate charged elsewhere in Guyana.
“A community benefit cannot become an industrial subsidy,” Solomon said. “If a small number of large industrial consumers can expand their operations, increase their electricity consumption and benefit from the community’s 21st August agreement, while the wider community experiences outages and capacity constraints, then we have to ask whether the original purpose of that agreement — signed in blood, sweat, and tears — is being undermined.”
Solomon called on the administration to:
- Immediately provide temporary or mobile power generation units to Linden
- Urgently review the Power Purchase Agreement to allow Bosai to expand generation
- Properly reclassify and audit heavy industrial consumers
- Present a clear long-term energy strategy
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