In response to rising global fuel prices, the Guyana government will soon present a supplementary budget of US$66 million to the National Assembly to enable the state-owned Guyana Power and Light to subsidize electricity costs for domestic consumers.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced this during a press conference on June 13, 2024, at the Office of the President in Georgetown. Additional funding is necessary as GPL has exhausted its allocated fuel budget. The steep increase in fuel prices has necessitated further financial support.
“The price of fuel went up from US$70. We are paying over US$105, maybe US$110 per barrel. But we are not increasing the price of electricity; in another country, they would have increased the price of electricity. That means before the end of the year, we will go to Parliament for a supplementary of $US66 million for just subsidizing electricity. We have to go to Parliament for that before the recess because of fuel prices,” Vice President Jagdeo stated.
The government’s efforts to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices are interim measures until the Gas-to-Energy project is operational.
The South American country is actively pursuing energy solutions, with the Gas-to-Energy project at the forefront. This initiative aims to supply around 300 megawatts of power by the last quarter of 2024, significantly boosting the country’s generating capacity by more than 100%.
Guyana’s electricity rates are among the highest in the region, and the Gas-to-Energy project is expected to cut the cost of power by 50%.
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This will be achieved by replacing imported heavy fuel oil (HFO) with natural gas from Guyana’s offshore Liza oilfield, which will also reduce emissions and improve power stability. The project, a collaboration between the Guyana government and ExxonMobil, involves constructing a pipeline to transport natural gas from the Liza field to onshore facilities at Wales, West Bank Demerara.
The US-based group CH4-Lindsayca has been contracted to build the integrated facility, including a 300-megawatt power plant.
Beyond power generation, the government plans to commercialize natural gas by-products such as cooking gas and fertilizer, both domestically and in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
