Government Consultant, Winston Brassington, announced during the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo today, that by the first half of 2025, Guyana will have access to reliable power from its gas-to-energy initiative.
The project is being established to transport gas from the Liza oilfield, offshore in the Stabroek Block to an integrated gas processing facility at Wales, West Bank Demerara and is expected to cut the cost of power by 50 percent. Stabroek Block operator, ExxonMobil is responsible for the installation of the pipeline, meanwhile the Guyana government will operate the 300MW power plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) processing facility at Wales.
Brassington, while delivering his remarks, stated that the power plant and natural gas liquids (NGL) facility are anticipated to be operational by April 2025, with ExxonMobil, managing the pipeline component, expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“Our delivery period of the first half of 2025 is reasonable and we believe we will achieve this and we will be on time for the combined cycle for next year,” he shared.
He added that, “We’re looking at about a four-month delay. Our independent engineer projects that this would be online by April of next year. Of course, we’re working on trying to do the best we can but we have to be realistic. The NGL facility will come online with a single cycle, and the combined cycle will be online by the end of 2025.”
Construction of the integrated facility, including a 300-megawatt (MW) power plant, will be conducted at Wales, West Bank Demerara, under the supervision of US-based group CH4-Lindsayca, for an estimated cost of US$759 million. The initiative aims to establish infrastructure for transporting natural gas from the offshore Liza oilfield to Wales, facilitating power generation and other commercial uses. Upon completion, the project is expected to reduce electricity costs to consumers by 50%, replacing heavy fuel oil (HFO) with cleaner natural gas.
Although construction on the power plant will commence in the second quarter of 2024, the transmission works are scheduled for completion by the end of the year, according to Brasington.
“At this point in time, the pipeline is coming in on schedule at the end of 2024. And it’s coming in on budget,” Brassington noted.
In the 2024 budget, some $80 billion has been allocated to advance this project and its associated infrastructure, including transmission and distribution upgrades to offtake the power. Adding to that, the government is currently awaiting US$660M loan from the United States (US) Export-Import (Exim) Bank.