Head of Guyana’s Gas-to-Energy Task Force, Winston Brassington, has urged Guyana’s Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit against the Gas-to-Energy project, arguing that it is obstructionist.
The lawsuit concerns the issuance of an environmental permit by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ExxonMobil Guyana for the installation of the pipeline. The applicants, Vanda Radzik and Elizabeth Hughes, have asked the High Court to quash the EPA’s decision to issue the permit. They contend that Exxon does not have the requisite permission to conduct activities on the lands designated for the gas pipeline route to the power plant.
Brassington stated, “By instituting these proceedings, they are not only busybodies, but are obstructionists to a project of national importance and fundamentally essential to the public good and interest.”
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The Gas-to-Energy project, the official argued, is intended to produce a reliable source of electricity for the country. He argued that the State’s developmental trajectory in respect of the generation of low cost electricity for users in Guyana, and ultimately the realisation of a lower cost of living for Guyanese, will be disrupted. He said the State’s fiscal interest will be adversely affected and the government of Guyana would be placed in a position of breach in relation to contracts already entered into for the construction of the power plant, and would likely attract litigation. Nevertheless, Brassington described the suit as having nuisance value, at worst.
In his affidavit of defense, the official explained the process leading up to the issuance of the environmental permit for the project, which he conveyed are in-keeping with the law.
Read Brassington’s affidavit below:
The litigants have been at constant odds with government officials about the Gas-to-Energy project. They previously approached the Environmental Assessment Board (which has the power to the review the EPA’s decisions) to rescind the permit on other grounds. That was dismissed.
Work has already begun on the Gas-to-Energy, after a long process of consultations and reviews. A subsea pipeline will be installed on the seafloor to transport natural gas from the Liza field to an onshore pipeline at the West Coast of the Demerara river. The onshore pipeline will deliver the gas to an integrated facility at Wales, on the West Bank of Demerara. At this facility, a natural gas liquids (NGL) processing plant will treat the gas to remove NGLs for commercialisation, and a 300 megawatts (MW) power plant will use the dry gas to generate electricity for domestic use.
ExxonMobil Guyana is responsible for the installation of the pipeline. The Guyana government will handle the integrated facility at Wales.
The project is estimated to cost some US$1.7-1.8 billion to develop.
Read more about the project here: All you need to know about Guyana’s Gas-to-Energy project (Updated) | OilNOW
