The Government of Guyana (GoG) on Monday approached the Committee of Supply for $25.3 billion more (about US$121 million) to advance the highly anticipated Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project which is slated to come onstream next year and halve consumers’ electricity bills.
This request, tabled in the National Assembly, reflects the administration’s commitment to advancing the project, even as it awaits the approval of a US$646 million loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
This latest appropriation will bring the total parliamentary approvals for the project to approximately US$855 million. This includes previous allocations amounting to over US$700 million in 2022 and earlier in 2023. It should be noted that the government is making allocations for the advancements of the projects from the treasury in the absence of the loan.
The Ministry of Finance in a release stated, “Another key area for which Government is seeking approval is for an amount of $25.3 billion under the Office of the Prime Minister to advance its transformational Gas to Energy project.”
The Gas-to-Energy project is central to the government’s energy expansion agenda, and is designed to transport natural gas from the offshore Stabroek Block’s Liza oilfield to a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility and a 300-megawatt power plant located at Wales, West Bank Demerara. The facility will convert 50 million cubic feet of gas daily into power, promising a 50% reduction in electricity costs nationwide. This is expected to boost the competitiveness of manufacturing industries and reduce Guyana’s dependence on heavy fossil fuels.
ExxonMobil Guyana was responsible for the laying of a pipeline to transport the gas to the onshore facilities. This has been completed and the next step is now to connect the pipeline to the power plant and NGL facilities.
For its part, Government hired CH4-Lindsayca as contractors for the US$759 million power plant and NGL facility. Construction is expected to be completed in 2025.
