President Irfaan Ali met with the Board of Directors and management of Guyana Power and Light Incorporated, the Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated (PPDI) and Finnish company Wartsila at State House.
During the meeting, the President expressed his dissatisfaction with the entity’s performance while acknowledging the myriad problems inherited as a result of a lack of maintenance and investments during the period 2015 to 2020. The exponential growth in demand, aged assets, and lack of redundancy in transmission were also discussed, a statement from the Office of the President said.
The President has scheduled a follow-up meeting later in the day. The Government has already engaged UK Export Finance (UKEF) to explore financing options for the transmission, the statement said.
Additionally, the President asked the utility to consider alternative options to provide bridging energy to meet the demand while waiting for the completion of the gas-fired power plant. The utility expects a further growth in demand this year of around 30MW.
