Warns State Lacks “Wiggle Room” as Powership Operator Demands Extra $3.4 Million Daily to Keep Lights On
By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — Former Minister of Public Infrastructure and Alliance for Change (AFC) Leader David Patterson has warned that the government has virtually no leverage to resist aggressive pricing demands from Karpowership. His warning follows a leaked cross-border corporate document revealing that the administration is being forced into an expedited contract extension under the threat of immediate blackouts.
The high-stakes document, which bypassed official state communication channels, details urgent correspondence dated May 25, 2026, from Karadeniz Powership Yasin Bey Company Limited and Urbacon Concessions Investments W.L.L. addressed directly to Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar.
A Hard Contract Cliff Imposed by Foreign Operators
According to the leaked correspondence, the initial “Powership Time Charter Plus Agreement” for the 36-megawatt (MW) vessel moored at Everton, Berbice River, officially expired on May 21, 2026. Recognizing the grid crisis, the Ministry desperately wrote to the operators on May 22, requesting a standard 30-day extension to hash out renewal terms.
However, the powership executives flatly rejected the state’s request, declaring they were unable to accommodate a 30-day window. Instead, they issued a strict final extension until Monday, June 1, 2026.
Signed by Beyza Özdemir, Americas Director of Commercial Operations for Karadeniz, and Antonio Neto, Managing Director of Urbacon, the document aggressively urged the state to bypass typical bureaucratic approval processes to “avoid any interruption to operations.”
The Millions at Stake: Aligning the Commercial Terms
Patterson, who oversaw the national grid framework from 2015 to 2020, revealed the exact financial details of what he described as an active corporate hostage situation.
The foreign consortium is demanding to align the pricing structure of the smaller 36-MW Berbice vessel with the higher commercial rates of the secondary, 60-MW Karpowership vessel currently stationed at Meadow Bank in the Demerara River.
| Fleet Asset & Location | Expired Rental Rate | Demanded New Rate Structure | Additional Daily Taxpayer Cost |
| 36-MW Vessel (Everton, Berbice) | $0.076 USD / kW | $0.095 USD / kW | +$15,760 USD ($3.4M GYD) |
| 60-MW Vessel (Meadow Bank, Demerara) | Standardized Rate | $0.095 USD / kW | Operational Baseline |
“They are holding out and telling the government that they want this new contract to be identical to the one signed for the larger powership,” Patterson explained. “In money terms, that means they are demanding an additional $15,760 US dollars per day. Annually, this rate hike will add an estimated $5.8 million USD ($1.2 billion GYD) in pure rental premiums, driving our annual bill for that single vessel up to $28.7 million USD.”
Grid Enters Dangerous Deficit Territory Below Reserve Margin
Patterson emphasized that the operators hold absolute leverage because the government has failed to build an independent fallback generation reserve. The emergency barge rentals became necessary solely because Phase One of the flagship Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project at Wales failed its initial 2024 delivery target, with first power now delayed until late 2026.
Patterson provided a grim breakdown of the country’s generation math if the Berbice vessel turns off its generators:
“Our current peak demand as of May 2026 is sitting at 205 MW,” Patterson stated. “If this company pulls out its 36 MW, the entire country is left with just 214 MW of operational capacity. That leaves a microscopic 9 MW safety margin—way below the industry-standard 15 percent engineering reserve, which dictates Guyana should maintain at least 236 MW of active generation.”
The former infrastructure minister warned that this deficit will trigger immediate grid failure as consumption surges over the coming weeks, driven by the World Cup football broadcasts and the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket tournament in June and July.
Silence From State Officials
Efforts by Nightly News to secure an official response from Kesh Nandlall, Leader of Executive Management at the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), regarding emergency load-shedding schedules or contract signatures proved completely unsuccessful. Up to press time, the executive branch has refused to publicly confirm the authenticity of the leaked documents or address the looming multi-billion-dollar fiscal impact.
