Govt. allocates $20.8B for US$900M Gas-to-Energy Project, solar farms

Jan 27, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – With the aim of advancing the transition to cleaner sources of energy, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh disclosed during the reading of budget 2022 yesterday that government has allocated $29.4B to the energy sector in 2022. Major allocations within this amount include: $20.8 for the Gas-to-Energy project and $1.4 billion for the 33 MWs solar farms for Berbice, Essequibo, and Linden.
Dr. Singh said this allocation was done to ensure government meets the growing demand for electricity and reduce the cost of electricity by 50 percent over the next 5 years. The Senior Minister recalled that following a public expression of interest in September 2021, Government issued an advertisement for the prequalification of firms interested in the transformational Gas-to-Energy project, recognising the potential of natural gas as a transition fuel.
He said this project will allow us to phase out the use of expensive and carbon-intensive heavy fuel oil and is targeted to reduce costs substantially below the current levels. Additionally, Dr. Singh said this project encompasses the establishment of a power plant to generate 300MW of power as well as a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant that will cover domestic demand.
He said the project also entails the construction of a 225 km 12” pipeline to transport the guaranteed minimum of 50 mmcfd of natural gas from offshore Guyana to the Wales Development Authority.
Kaieteur News understands that ongoing geotechnical and geophysical works for both offshore and onshore operations are advancing with portions already completed. Dr. Singh was keen to note that an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is expected to be completed by early second quarter of 2022. Utilising a transparent procurement process, he said it is expected that the firm selected would be able to engineer, procure and construct the Power Plant and NGL Plant along with related facilities. Furthermore, the official said construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2022 and will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2024.