The Government of Guyana today said it is negotiating the best possible deal in the interest of Guyana, before moving forward to renew the contract with Turkish-associated Karpowership.

The previous two-year agreement for two power ships expired last week and the company is demanding increased, standardized rates and has issued threats of immediate power disconnection to pressure the state.

The country rented two vessels from Karpowership – a 36-megawatts (MW) facility is docked in the Berbice River, while the 60MW craft is stationed in the Demerara River.

Renting the two Turkish Karpowership vessels costs Guyana a combined total of roughly US$235,000 per day (GY$48.8 million).

In a release this afternoon, Public Utilities Minister, Deodat Indar, said he has taken note of the current commentary surrounding the issue of the contract renewal and has assured that negotiations are underway.

“I would like to assure the public that the Government of Guyana is working in the best interests of the people of Guyana to get the best possible commercial rate for the renewal of the contract,” Mr. Indar.

He rubbished claims that the recent spate of blackouts was due to the power ships not operating, instead saying that the outages are not due to power generation.

“Rather, there may be power outages due to maintenance of the power grid and interruptions caused by private contractors. We continue to be in the negotiation process, while the power ship maintains an uninterrupted supply of electricity to the national grid,” Mr. Indar said.

He promised to be transparent with the negotiations and the outcome of the talks between the Guyana Power and Light Inc. and UCC JV with Karpowership.

Back in 2024, the government through GPL signed a multi-million-dollar contract with Urbacon Concessions Investments, W.L.L (UCI), a subsidiary of UCC Holdings in Qatar, in collaboration with Karpower ship International to rent the ship for two years.

Despite the intervention, there power outages have continued.

The Government has repeatedly said that those outages have nothing to do with power generation.

Meanwhile, Opposition Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly seeking permission to ask a number of questions at tomorrow’s sitting about the situation with the power ships.

Mahipaul said he intends to seek information on the contract negotiations, the demands by the powership company for increased rates and the impact on the country.

Related posts:

GPL inks deal for rental of second Power Ship Power ship now providing 36 megawatts of power to national grid -GPL US$1Million mobilization fee and monthly operational and maintenance fees among costs for power ship -GPL reveals GPL’s Industrial and Large usage customers to face increased rates during peak hours