Feasibility studies

Oct 26, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – No feasibility study, no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), no US Export-Import Bank (US-EXIM) money. US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, was insistent “they do not lend a dime to anyone until those have been done and satisfied.” In November 2024, EXIM lent Guyana US$527M as part of its funding of the US$2B Wales Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project. The project has since been hit by one delay after another due to soil unsuitability and Guyana forced to pay a penalty of around US$100 million.

So, what did US-EXIM review before it lent over a half billion US to Guyana for the GtE project? It could be that some kind of study was done, but it was such a poor piece of work that the unstable soil in the GtE area went unnoticed, or was noticed, but thought unworthy of mention. The opposite could also be true, where no feasibility study was done, and whatever EIA was commissioned and completed did not do a proper job. What Vice President Jagdeo said on a programme in 2021 about the project may have some bearing.

“The financial aspect is a no-brainer. Any sensible person with a modicum of sense, a tiny brain, even a residual brain, would understand that.” Jagdeo’s context was that when the Wales GtE offered the opportunity to drop the price per kilowatt hour from $13-15 to $7-8 (kwh), there should be no hesitation in doing so. We at this paper have no quarrel with the numbers provided by the vice president, but what is the basis of his numbers? If he has that backing in hand, he should have shared it with the nation from the beginning. Here is the proof of the numbers, and this is why this project makes so much sense, and it must be done. To date, Jagdeo has not shared any such documents, and the GtE is stuck in a hole. The project is late, the project needs some additional funding, the project will now have a new operational start date. These are the messages that energy-starved citizens receive, live with while enduring waves of blackouts. The PPPC Government, the GtE Taskforce, seemingly have no answers, other than the usual deflections (or silence).

While absorbing Jagdeo’s promise of a huge cut in electricity prices due to halving the cost of each kilowatt hour of electricity, we notice that his focus is heavy on numbers. Wherever he got his figures from, and whatever uses he put them to, what he has shared with the public is mostly financial. An engineering study, one otherwise termed an engineering feasibility study would have picked up immediately that the soil around the Wales GtE project is too unstable, and would need shoring up. More importantly, the stabilizing of the soil would require extra time and extra millions. This was not found out, nor factored into, when the GtE project began. Only after it started, was it discovered that there was a soil problem, and that it was a huge one. Citizens who have been hampered can tell how big: a two-year delay, approximately US$100M in unexpected costs, and the challenge of the same high electricity bills.

During the 2021 online programme, Jagdeo spoke of a technical project study done in 2016 by ExxonMobil, probably one of its sub-contractors. What areas did this claimed technical study cover? Even if its terms of reference were not broad enough, an element as fundamental as the stability of the soil where the two facilities were going to be erected should not have been overlooked. How could any reputable group doing such a study miss the deficiency in the soil? Whatever the underlying reasons, citizens are now compelled to continue living with expectations and disappointments colouring their day.

For all these reasons, these angry experiences, we have difficulty with the US ambassador’s representations. Whatever the Guyana Government submitted to US EXIM as part of its document package to review, the bank failed to pick up on the serious implications of the soil issue. Or the pages related to the unstable soil were not part of the document review package. US EXIM lent Guyana the money, the project is overdue, and citizens have a bill to repay.

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Editorial, Environmental Impact Assessment, feasibility studies, US-EXIM, Wales Gas-to-Energy

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