The Government of Guyana through the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL), is finalizing a US$15M agreement with InterEnergy of the Dominican Republic for consultancy services, President Irfaan Ali has announced.

At a press conference last Tuesday, the President said InterEnergy will provide critical advice and oversight as the country transitions to Smart Grid technology to reduce losses and improve efficiency and reliability in the supply of electricity.

“They are trying to complete negotiation with InterEnergy for a two year programme that would only cost US$15 Million that would help with the supervision of all these projects, plus the modernization of the management system and the total overhaul of the system itself to enhance efficiency and reliability,” the President said.

InterEnergy will be providing GPL with advisory services as well as project management and oversight, and capacity building as the power company rolls out the Smart Grid Integration Programme.

Provision of similar services, the President said, could have cost the country as much as US$40M.

In July, it was revealed that the Government of Guyana had given its no objection to a US$650,000 per month contract between the Guyana Power and Light Company, and the InterEnergy Group.

The procurement contract was a single source one that came before the cabinet on the 17th July, 2025 under the Office of the Prime Minister, News Source understands.

The Guyana Power and Light company explained its relationship with InterEnergy after concerns were raised by workers about a possible takeover over the GPL operations.

GPL said in January 2024, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities for collaboration. That MOU enabled GPL to benefit from IEG’s extensive technical expertise through consultation and knowledge sharing, the statement said.

President Ali said as GPL transitions to the use of Smart Grid technology, enormous investments are needed, and already the power company has identified a number of major projects that must be undertaken.

“Now, GPL has outlined a number of major projects that we must invest in, in building out a full scale smart grid, which includes transmission and distribution expansion, the construction of approximately 155km of double circuit transmission lines, 343 km of primary distributions lines across Regions, 3, 4, 5 and 6 – this, if we have to invest in, is a budgeted cost of more than US$400M. The building out of substations, and upgrading of existing substations in Georgetown, Garden of Eden, Kingston, Onverwagt, Edinburgh, Good Hope, Colombia, with smart distribution equipment to support grid automation and reliability at an approximate cost of more than US$300M,” the President said.

Additionally, he said Linden will be interconnected through the expansion of the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) alongside the construction of new Distribution Sub-stations at Bamia, Mackenzie, and Wismar.

He said additional investments are also needed to protect the underground cables between Vreed-en-Hoop and Kingston to prevent disruptions. These projects, President Ali said, will complement the Gas-to-Energy Project, which is currently under construction.

The President also said the intention is to modernize Guyana’s electricity infrastructure to reach international standards, enhance energy security, reliability and resilience and enable cost effective integration of renewable energy and technology to support national economic growth, industrialization and environmental sustainability.

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