By| Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News |
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has acknowledged that the government cannot guarantee an immediate end to power outages, while describing the ongoing wave of nationwide blackouts as unacceptable and declaring that the national electricity grid requires a comprehensive structural overhaul.
Speaking during a national address on Monday, President Ali directly confronted the mounting public frustration over chronic electrical disruptions, noting that while any modern power utility can face unforeseen mechanical failures, the frequency and severity of current outages exceed reasonable operational thresholds.
Soaring Demand Squeezes Grid Capacity
The President explained that the crisis stems from unprecedented economic and demographic growth colliding with legacy infrastructure designed for a much smaller economy.
Within the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS), which supplies roughly 230,000 consumers, peak electricity demand jumped from approximately 205 megawatts (MW) in 2024 to 242.6 MW in August 2026—an increase of nearly 18 percent. By comparison, average annual electricity demand growth across Latin America and the Caribbean hovers between 3 and 4 percent.
“We cannot promise that there will not be another interruption. Every modern electricity system can experience unexpected equipment failure, but not what we are having now. Unacceptable,” President Ali stated. “We cannot continue with an unreliable system.”
With available generation operating near peak load levels, Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) has had little room to pull generation sets offline for scheduled maintenance. Consequently, sudden equipment failures cause cascading localized and system-wide trips.
Projected Surge: Demand Expected to Rise 138% by 2029
Citing an independent assessment conducted by InterEnergy, President Ali warned that grid pressure will intensify substantially in the coming years.
- Demand Trajectory: National power demand is projected to surge by roughly 138 percent by 2029.
- Customer Base Expansion: GPL is expected to connect more than 62,000 new accounts over the same period.
- Economic Drivers: Demand is fueled by manufacturing plants, new industrial estates, hotels, commercial complexes, and expanding public housing schemes across Regions Three, Four, Five, and Six.
Capital Infrastructure Plan: 360 km of Transmission and New Substations
To counter the deficit, President Ali said the administration is shifting its strategy from reacting to demand to building capacity well ahead of consumption curves.
The capital expansion program involves:
- Transmission Corridors: Construction of more than 360 kilometers of new high-voltage transmission lines, including 155 kilometers of 230-kilovolt (kV) double-circuit lines to transmit bulk power over longer distances.
- Substation Upgrades: Construction of more than 10 new substations, the structural expansion of four existing substations, and the integration of two mobile substations for emergency dispatch.
- Urban & River Links: Broadening of the existing 69 kV network, alongside a dedicated 2.5-kilometer underground and submarine 69 kV link connecting Vreed-en-Hoop to the Kingston power complex.
The administration’s primary hurdle will be executing these capital works rapidly enough to stabilize daily supply before industrial load additions outpace the grid.
