The electricity demand has reached 205 MW over the past three months – PM

The government is actively monitoring the increasing demand for electricity and implementing measures to accommodate the country’s growing power needs.

According to Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, the peak electricity demand has risen in recent months.

He made the announcement on Thursday evening, during the Amcham Energy Mixer at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.

“Around three or two months ago in a meeting, they [Guyana Power and Light Inc] told us that the peak demand for electricity was somewhere around 188 and 189 megawatts. And yesterday they told us that the peak is now around 205 megawatts,” the prime minister stated.

Earlier in the year, the government procured an additional 36 megawatts of electricity from a power ship from a Turkish company to boost supply. However, with the continued rise in demand, more resources are being considered to ensure adequate power supply.

“We are now engaging other contractors for 60 additional megawatts before the end of the year. We have to do this in the short term as we wait anxiously on the gas-to-energy project that will bring us to 300 megawatts, which will put all of us in a good position,” Prime Minister Phillips stressed.

Prime Minister Phillips also underscored that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is the only administration to have made such a large-scale project a reality.

“The optimists are in power today. Guyana is lucky because the gas-to-energy project will be completed by this government,” Prime Minister Phillips asserted.  

With the first phase of the project nearing completion, the government is preparing to focus on the second phase.

The prime minister stated that the savings from this initiative would be used to bridge the energy gap between the hinterland and the coastland. Furthermore, the government intends to market gas and energy across the Caribbean.

Reflecting on past energy initiatives, Phillips noted that if Guyanese had embraced the PPP/C Government’s optimism earlier, the country would have benefited from 165 megawatts of additional electricity since 2017.

With the rise of new schools, hospitals, hotels, and increasing demand in the housing sector, the government is implementing strategies to facilitate the increase in energy.