President Irfaan Ali today said while there have been “notable improvements” in the power generation sector, there are still challenges with management, distribution and production at the Guyana Power and Light Company.

During a sit down with selected journalists and a group of students this afternoon, the President said there are capacity building initiatives and institutional changes that are underway to ensure the country’s power network is safe, efficient and highly reliable.

“So on the power side, there has been improvements, still not where we want it to be, there is still weaknesses in the management that we are addressing, there are challenges in the distribution side, there are challenges from the production side. We are hoping that by the last quarter in 2026 the gas to energy project would be in a position to deliver but that too is a problem if the transmission and distribution is not completed,” the President noted.

According to the President, there has been an increase growth in power consumption due to more housing schemes and economic activities taking place.

He admitted that the delayed gas-to-energy project is putting additional pressure on the national electricity grid. He said he is hoping that the project could be operational by late next year.

 “So you have a transmission issue, you have a production issue and yes, we had a delay on the gas to shore, we acknowledge this, is it where we want it to be? No. but today we have a plan, we have a plan to address production, we have a plan to address transmission, and we have a plan to address distribution. The tens of thousands of new homes that are coming on every two-three years to the grid  on the same system, we now have to move at a rapid pace to have the cable across the Demerara river completed because it’s not only affecting the power sector now, its affecting our ability to bring ship in,” the President said.

The President said the Government continues to invest heavily in the power sector not only to stimulate growth but to ensure that Guyanese get stable electricity.

The problem of power generation and stable electricity has been a decades long one, and although the Government has introduced several initiatives, including the rental of two high-priced power ships to stabilize electricity, power supply problems have been ongoing.

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