The Guyana government has inked a contract for a second powership to be deployed in Guyana by UCC Holdings, for the delivery of 75 megawatts (MW) of additional generating capacity.
The agreement was signed on November 13 in Georgetown, by Kesh Nandlall, Head of the Executive Management Committee of Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), and Antonio Neto, Managing Director of the Americas, UCC Holdings.
A UCC Holdings affiliate already delivered a 36 MW powership to the Berbice River in May and is expected to operate for two years until early 2026. The second ship will be necessary to meet rising power demand spurred by the country’s fast-growing economy. Prime Minister Mark Phillips said in September that the country’s demand stands at 205 MW. GPL estimates demand could peak at 245.77 MW this year. The Christmas holiday season is approaching, and Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, said the growing capacity will be necessary to facilitate the high-consumption period.
The powership will be stationed in the Demerara River and will deliver 60 MW of generating capacity to the national grid in its first phase. The remaining 15 MW will be delivered in a subsequent phase.
Neto said the company will mobilize as soon as possible to have the powership deployed.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh said the government will continue to meet the growing demand for power while it works on larger projects like Gas-to-Energy.
“President [Irfaan] Ali’s instructions are very clear, that in the first instance, we must meet the immediate demand for electricity, and where that means bringing in emergency power, we must bring in that emergency power. And secondly, we must make the investments that are needed for the medium- and longer-term demand that we will see for electricity,” Singh said.
He noted that for the longer-term, the government anticipates that its Gas-to-Energy project, once operational, will deliver an additional 300 MW of power to the country. First gas is expected in 2025. The government is expected to place its HFO plants in reserve at that juncture.
