By Svetlana Marshall

Government Consultant on the Gas-to-Energy project, Winston Brassington, has assured that the multi-billion dollar project at Wales on the West Bank of Demerara, will be completed by the end of 2026. However, he told the Guyana Energy Conference that the Power Plant, which forms a critical part of the project, will not be able to operate at its full capacity until mid-2027.

Initially, the US$759 Million Power Plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Plant Project was scheduled to be completed by December 2024. That timeline was updated several times as delays persisted.

Mr. Brassington told the Energy Conference that based on discussions with the contractor – Lindsayca – the project is far advanced. He explained that the 300 megawatt power plant would only be able to deliver 228 megawatts of power, when it goes into operation at the end of the year.

“Our contractor Linddayca from the US has promised us that they are going to complete the 300 megawatt project first on simple cycle by the end of this year. And simple cycle is essentially the four gas turbines with a total installed capacity of about 228 megawatts, so, that we expect to have on line by the end of the year. Coming with that just before would be the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) Plant, what we call the cooking gas – 63 million gallons per annum of propane, butane, pentane+. So that’s the end of this year,” he explained.

Brassington assured that the power plant’s combined cycle will be completed by mid-2027, and once fully completed, it will have an installed capacity of 300 megawatts in keeping with the design of the project.

Stabroek Block operator – ExxonMobil Guyana Limited – completed the gas pipeline at a cost of US$1 Billion in October, 2024.

The pipeline will transport the gas from the Liza oil field to the facility at Wales. However, it will not be able to do so, until the onshore aspect of the project is completed.

“So, this is a 12 inch pipeline coming 250 kilometer from 1 mile deep in the ocean where the Liza Field is and that’s coming on shore. And initially out of a capacity of 120 million cubic feet of gas per day, initially we will get 50, and when we fill that pipeline in phase 2 million cubic feet we will go to 120. That pipeline is done and it is waiting on the power plant project,” Brassington said.

With the demand for electricity expected to grow in the coming years, the Government is moving to develop a second phase of the project within the Wales Development Zone, Brassington told the conference.

He stated that the Request for Proposal (RFP) was published, and the Government has since pre-qualified five firms. The bids for Phase Two to fill the existing pipeline should come in by the end of March, 2026.

“We have divided the expansion into three phases – one is the Natural Gas Liquid Plant which will go right next to the existing one on the site. The second is what we call the balance of plant and then the second power plant will go right next to the existing one. So, we are doubling from 300 megawatts of combined cycle of power to 600 megawatts. And we expect that construction of that will start this year because we need the additional power ASAP,” the Government Consultant explained.

Brassington said while the capacity of the plants will increase by 100% in the future, the Government will also be using the extra gas for fertilizer among other initiatives.

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