The Government of Guyana is moving to source between US$180M and US$250M, in response to a proposal from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) for emergency funding to facilitate upgrades to the Transmission and Distribution Network as part of the Gas-to-Energy Project. 

At a press conference today, the Vice President explained that in addition to the construction of the US$1B gas pipeline, which is being funded by ExxonMobil, and the US$759M Power Plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Plant at Wales, the Government through GPL would need to upgrade the Transmission and Distribution System to ensure that there is no disruption in the distribution of electricity across the country. 

He said failure to do so, would result in power outages despite having a new power plant. 

“So, then we would have power, more power but still have blackouts because of the weak transmission system. So, that is also a component that they are working on and we will fund that too, we will have to fund that,” Mr. Jagdeo explained. 

Mr. Jagdeo said the funding is needed almost immediately, and the Government will possibly approach the National Assembly.

However, he did not rule out sourcing the funds from foreign financial institutions. 

“They have presented this proposal to us…but we have indicated that we will have the funding ready even if it has to come from the budget. It has to be done….It could be that [supplementary budget] or we can get it financed from a loan but even if it is financed from a loan, that’s just the funding,” the Vice President said. 

The funding, according to the Vice President, would likely be sourced before the end of June. 

Meanwhile, he said the contract for another component of the Gas-to-Energy Project, which will see the electricity from the power plant transmitted to a control centre at Eccles has been awarded.  

“Part of the distribution component, that is from the power plant, we have already awarded a contract to evacuate the power from the power plant to the control centre, which would be built at Eccles to bring power across. And also, to take some of the power to Vreed-en-Hoop. So, there are several substations and the transmission main as part of that component, and the contract has been awarded to an Indian company, and that component should be completed along with the pipeline,” Mr. Jagdeo explained. 

It was noted that the component of the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year along with the gas pipeline. 

The power plants are now scheduled to be completed in December 2025. 

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