Notwithstanding the spate of power outages that gripped large sections of the country throughout 2024, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) managed to end the year on a positive note, securing more than enough power to keep the lights on.

At a press conference this afternoon at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, the Prime Minister said the National Grid has access to 267 megawatts of power. 

“We ended the year on a positive note, notwithstanding all the challenges. We have increased total generation capacity in Guyana from 207 megawatts to 267 megawatts. In 2024 alone, we have increased, the capacity by 124 megawatts,” the Prime Minister explained. 

He explained that 28 megawatts of power was brought on stream at the Columbia Power Station. To boost the existing capacity, the Government rented two power ships in 2024, the first providing 36 megawatts of power and the second, which arrived towards the end of 2024, has been providing 60 megawatts of power. 

In Anna Regina, GPL also added 1.2 megawatts of electricity and 450 kilowatts of power at Wakenaam.

Prime Minister Phillips said at present, the peak demand for power is 205 megawatts.

“We have in excess of what is required. Not only to supply electricity but also to have the spinning reserve that the technical people would talk about and to cater for growth,” he said. 

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar said now that GPL has more than enough capacity, there are a number of engines that will be taken offline for a major overhaul. 

He told reporters that those engines have long past their time for maintenance.

“We have some engines that have gone over their required scheduled maintenance. I have had a meeting with the leadership of GPL, PPDI and others to make sure that they have a schedule, and that schedule would govern how they will bring down these engines to ensure that while these engines are being repaired, we have enough generating capacity to deal with demand and we have enough spinning reserve to deal with demand,” Minister Indar explained. 

Minister Indar said in his discussions with GPL and PPDI, he underscored the importance of effectively managing the engines, and having the works completed within the established timeframe. 

The Government, he said, has also been upgrading its transmission network to adequately dispatch the bulk power. 

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