Guyana’s Gas-to-Energy project is a win-win for the country. In fact, its Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat holds the strong position that the country simply cannot lose when the project comes on stream in 2025.
He dubbed it “the single most transformational project” in Guyana and the wider Caribbean with a slew of benefits to be derived – chief among which is a significant reduction in power generation costs and a more reliable source.
“All our major problems in this country have been costs of power generation and the reliability of it too,” he noted in support of his assertion.
It is no secret that Guyana has a high cost of power relative to the region. While it would typically pay US$0.30 per kWh, its counterparts such as Trinidad & Tobago pay half of that.
With Gas-to-Energy however, those problems are expected to be a thing of the past. And as Guyana forges ahead with its energy transition, the project serves as the optimal bridging fuel to cleaner energy.
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“That project will deliver cheaper electricity and more reliable electricity,” Mr. Bharrat added.
But the benefits do not stop there. Guyana has been pushing to export more value-added products and with cheaper energy comes lower production costs. And this is what the natural resources minister hinges his assertion on.
He explained that Guyana has been exporting raw materials “for too long”. He said that for years, Guyana has been unable to get the “full value” of its natural resources because of this fact.
“We keep exporting the bauxite ore, the logs, the raw [material], we keep exporting our agriculture produce but we have never exported processed materials or value-added materials and that is where the real value is,” he stressed.
And this is what the Gas-to-Energy project will help Guyana realise, while also creating “significant opportunities” for Guyanese in every sector.
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“So, it is a win-win situation. There is no way we can lose from the Gas-to-Energy project and going into value-added production – there is no way we can lose,” he emphasisied.
With the country’s energy demand expected to grow within the next five years, the government has eyed the reduction of electricity costs by 50 percent through the use of natural gas. And it will also help to phase out the use of expensive and carbon-intensive heavy fuel oil.
The Gas-to-Energy project will see a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant being constructed to separate the natural gas liquids, and a power plant to generate 250 MW of power using dry gas.
