Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has come out in defense of the Government’s decision to rent a second power ship to supply additional power to the national grid, telling reporters on Thursday that the costs to rent the ships are not significantly higher than the cost to generate power by GPL.

Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), David Patterson has stated that the rental of the power ships adds up to a wastage of tax payers’ money, explaining that the hundreds of millions of dollars being used for a temporary fix could have been invested in a more permanent solution for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL). 

But the Vice President explained that the cost to generate 1 Kilowatt-hour of power using GPL’s existing equipment is around 18 US cents.

“If we had to generate, say, 75 megawatts of power, it is about 18 cents to generate 1 kilowatt hour. When we take the first power ship at 7.6 cents plus the 13 cents for fuel, it comes up to 20.6 cents,” the Vice President explained.

He said the opposition is examining the issue in isolation, failing to take into account that the costs to rent the ships, include the cost for the fuel, operation and maintenance and the service provided. 

The Vice President said it is important to note that the power ships are being rented to meet the current demand for energy, pending the completion of government’s flagship gas-to-energy project. 

Mr. Jagdeo said the government is also subsidizing the cost of power supplied to the nation. 

“So, this is pure nonsense. We are selling it at 23 cents per kilowatt hour, because it depends on the category, but, really our cost of generation plus the transmission cost, it is nearly 30 cents per kilowatt hour, that is how we are subsidizing it. So, the price has not increased. People should know that, that US$70M in subsidy is keeping their power bill at the same rate as 2020 although we have seen an escalation in fuel cost,” the Vice President said. 

But the Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, today, said despite the presence of the first power ship, the country continues to face a spate of power outages. 

While accusing the government of demonstrating poor leadership skill, Mr. Norton said Guyanese are now left to wonder if they are getting value for their money. 

“The fact that the government must seek funding for power generation through supplementary budgets says in all. We would recall that in December 2023, the government, in a rush to clean up the mess caused by its incompetence and shortsightedness, purchased 17 third-hand electricity generation sets from Honduras for US$27 million, which it hoped will supply 28MW of power. Guyanese soon learnt that the sets were plagued by serious mechanical defects. One doubts whether those sets are performing today as advertised and producing any good value for money,” he said. 

Norton said in just one year, the government has had three “stop gap responses” to the electricity challenges facing the country.

Like Patterson, the Opposition Leader made a case for the government to purchase new generating sets for the country, explaining that such a move would ensure these assets remain in the country as compared to the power-ships which are on a two-year lease. 

“Taken together, the incompetence and tardiness displayed in the procurement of the 17 third-hand generators from Honduras and the two power-ships have cost Guyanese billions of dollars in losses and damages. In decent countries, ministers have been fired and governments toppled for less,” the Opposition Leader said. 

He said contrary to the statements made by the Vice President, the APNU+AFC during its time in office, had begun to build the capacity of GPL, but the PPP/C Administration dropped the ball upon entering office. The Opposition Leader said the result is the many days of power outages being experienced across the country.

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