Guyana is emerging as a rare alignment zone—a geographic and technological triangle where energy intensive data centers, dispatchable low-carbon power, and carbon capture can coexist. This trifecta gives Guyana something few nations have: reliable and increased natural gas feedstock to power artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, potential geological storage to harness for CO₂ via ExxonMobil’s (Exxon) offshore experience, and political will to activate it for AI. These are the prerequisites not just for AI deployment, but for AI governance, and a springboard for a Paris Agreement-style framework on compute emissions.
Guyana is repositioning itself in the digital economy, as seen in President Irfaan Ali’s announcement of the country’s first AI-powered data center in Berbice. Guyana has the playbook from Exxon, operator of the prolific Stabroek Block (which reached first oil in 2019, fueling Guyana’s meteoric rise) and launched the world’s first CCS project in 1996 (absent enhanced oil recovery). In 2025, Exxon is positioning itself as a power supplier to U.S. data centers, coupling gas with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in an early signal of the digital energy economy. In neighboring Brazil, where I helped establish South America’s first CCS law, we see a regional precedent for Guyana to apply CCS to its AI ambitions and industrial buildout, including its gas-to-energy project.
Nuclear and Electrification Now
In 2022, after engaging with Guyana’s president, I detailed a gas-to-electrification arc for Guyana in the Journal of Petroleum Technology, noting its potential to anchor long-term economic transformation. That vision is beginning to materialize through AI infrastructure, compute-secure power generation, and a broader electrification strategy. This arc must extend to nuclear power, by integrating Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) this decade, with fusion and fission likely to define the next.
With Google, Amazon, and Sam Altman (CEO of ChatGPT) actively investing in nuclear, the AI energy matrix is shifting, and Guyana must respond. Nuclear offers sovereign, low-carbon, non-intermittent power, helping reduce overreliance on hydrocarbons and avoiding the trap of petro-state dependency. An AI and digital economy can position Guyana as the Global South’s emerging hub for compute infrastructure and strategic diversification. Guyana has an additional regional precedent to draw from. Argentina and Brazil already operate nuclear reactors, while in the Middle East, Jordan is exploring SMRs to power AI and industrial systems. Guyana—though new to nuclear—could leapfrog into this space, backed by the world’s fastest GDP growth rate, as reported by the International Monetary Fund, especially as AI firms seek sovereign, decarbonized infrastructure to anchor their models.
At the same time, Guyana’s electrification strategy is gaining momentum. BYD—the world’s largest EV manufacturer—has entered the market, supported by national tax waivers and charging infrastructure led by the Guyana Energy Agency. AI data centers, EVs, and low-carbon power are no longer disparate goals—they form a unified national blueprint. Geothermal may also warrant future consideration as part of Guyana’s evolving low-carbon energy matrix, and it is noted here as a historical marker.
Guyana: The Center of the Paris Agreement for AI and CCS
In my recent article in Illuminem, “What the Paris Agreement Teaches Us About Governing AI’s Carbon Footprint,” I argued that AI governance must include emissions management and carbon capture. That proposed global framework—modeled after the UNFCCC—calls for a Compute Emissions Transparency Authority (CETA): a global mechanism to track, verify, and disclose emissions tied to AI infrastructure. Guyana, by design or fortune, already embodies the preconditions to pilot this vision. The following table codifies the strategic doctrine behind Guyana’s emergence as an AI–energy–carbon vanguard in the Global South
It has gas, offshore carbon storage potential to tap into, high-level political alignment, and the digital ambition to act. Guyana should be designated a Tier-One Pilot Nation for CETA implementation—an early testbed for compute emissions reporting and CCS-backed energy governance, and a prototype for energy-sovereign AI emerging from the Global South.
Through CETA, Guyana can help shape global protocols modeled after the Paris Agreement, beginning with a Tier-One Pilot Nation designation. In parallel, Guyana’s nuclear readiness—defined by its ability to integrate SMRs alongside gas and scale into fusion and fission systems—positions it to lead the next chapter in energy-sovereign compute infrastructure. No other Global South nation is positioned like this. The alignment of these three domains allows Guyana to operationalize AI without exacerbating emissions, while asserting digital sovereignty. This ensures its infrastructure does not simply serve foreign models, but contributes to the governance of AI itself.
What does this all mean for Guyana?
As outlined in the table above, Guyana can write global rules before they’re imposed, ensuring its infrastructure not only powers AI but governs it. From first oil to the world’s fastest-growing GDP, Guyana has the coordinates, capability, and courage. Now: will it power the AI age—or help govern it? If Guyana aligns AI infrastructure with carbon management, invests in CCS, and integrates nuclear, it can avoid overreliance on hydrocarbons and escape petro-state dependency. It can go from resource-rich to resource-strategic, setting a precedent the Global South can follow. This extends to neighboring Suriname, which recently approved a $10.5 billion offshore project adjacent to Guyana.
A separate Surinamese-led initiative is also under consideration to export natural gas via Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG), though it has not yet been sanctioned. As someone who inked Pakistan’s first low-carbon agreement and helped shape South America’s first CCS law in Brazil, I know carbon governance can redefine a nation’s path. Guyana now stands ready, with urgency to act and precedent to lead, carrying its journey from first oil to first digital compute into the realm of global AI and low-carbon diplomacy.
Author Bio: Fernando C. Hernandez began his career as a mechanic in 2002 with Plug Power, specializing in the cryogenic transportation of hydrogen, CO₂, and LNG. Forbes has since featured him. He now serves as Global Chairman at the Society for Low Carbon Technologies and as a Business Ambassador to Scotland, appointed by its longest-serving First Minister for his energy contributions. As CCS Brasil’s International Chairman, he helped shape South America’s first carbon capture and storage legal framework, approved by Brazil’s president. Fernando is a multi-award-winning technologist with the U.K.’s Net Zero Technology Centre, supported by ADNOC, bp, and Equinor, for advancing low-carbon technologies. His trilingual fluency has facilitated global project execution and commercial initiatives. Fernando’s expertise in foreign affairs, climate diplomacy, energy, and technology has led to engagements with presidents, ministers, and speaking across four continents, as covered by the press.
