HGP Nightly News – Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar says the government is close to finalising negotiations for a third powership, as electricity demand continues to rise and the gas-to-energy project is not yet supplying power to the national grid.
Indar, during an interview on the Starting Point Podcast, said the government has had to secure temporary generation over the past two years to meet growing demand and stabilise supply. He explained that the first powership, which provided 36 megawatts, was brought in at a time when the country urgently needed additional power.
According to the minister, the government negotiated that arrangement at 7.2 US cents per kilowatt hour, which he described as the cheapest rate available at the time for a vessel that could be deployed when Guyana needed it.
“It was a very low rate,” Indar said, noting that the company had offered what he described as a concessional price.
A second powership, generating 60 megawatts, was later contracted at 9.5 US cents per kilowatt hour. Indar said that vessel was also necessary as demand was expected to rise during the Christmas period.
He said urgent work had to be done to connect that vessel to the grid, including the construction of four kilometres of transmission lines in six weeks.
“We did it just to get the power hooked up,” he said.
The minister said the government is now negotiating for a smaller third powership to provide additional generation in Berbice. He explained that the need remains because the gas-to-energy project has not yet come online, while the system still requires both voltage support and extra generation.
Indar also addressed public discussion surrounding the negotiations, saying one of the letters related to the talks had been leaked. He argued that negotiations should not be conducted in public.
“You don’t negotiate in the public,” he said.
According to Indar, the government has taken a firm position in the talks, while also recognising that the first rate secured two years ago was unlikely to be repeated.
He said the asset owners had asked for 9.5 US cents per kilowatt hour, while the government has pushed for 9 US cents.
“We made sure that we took some strong positions on negotiation,” Indar said.
The minister said the government has also made it clear that it has other options, but noted that the vessel already in Guyana has the advantage of being connected to the system.
“We need the power, they need the work. Let’s find a middle ground,” he said.
Indar said the negotiations are almost complete.
“We are 99 percent there, not fully yet, but we are 99 percent there,” he said.
