The Gas-to-Energy project moved closer to fruition yesterday with the signing of a US$8.6 million contract between the Govern-ment of Guyana and Chinese company, Power China, to construct a building to house the National Control Centre, a Depart-ment of Public Information (DPI) release stated yesterday.
Power China was one of the bidders among three others shortlisted during the open tender process.
The building will be constructed at Beterver-wagting along the East Coast of Demerara with the project having a 13-month duration.
During the signing ceremony yesterday in the boardroom of the Office of the Prime Minister at Camp Street, Georgetown, Prime Minister Mark Phillips noted the role the building will play in the delivery of power from the Gas-to-Energy project.
“This is important for the whole management of the transmission and distribution of the power that will be evacuated from the Gas-to-Energy project. So, the people of Guyana, come 2025 will benefit from adequate electricity.”
He said that the project will allow the government to deliver on its promise of easing the cost of living for citizens across the country.
“The power from the Gas-to-Energy project would be reliable. And as such, the cost will go down. We promised the people that we would reduce the cost of electricity by 50 per cent and we will deliver on that promise.”
According to the release, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, who also attended the signing ceremony, pointed out that the nearly US$2 billion gas project consists of several components being executed simultaneously.
These include the installation of deep-water pipelines, shallow-water pipelines, underground pipelines, building of the Materials Offloading Facility in Wales, West Bank Demerara, the construction of access roads, the power plant, and the installation of the transmission lines that will transfer the electricity to the control centre.
The 230 KV transmission lines are currently being installed by Kala-pataru Projects Inter-national Limited (KPIL).
“Today, what we have done is to sign the last aspect of the entire leg of projects surrounding the Gas-to-Energy project…we have [KPIL] who is building the 230KV transmission line to bring it to Vreed-en-Hoop sub-station and to bring it to Beterverwagting located behind Eccles…That there is now where this contract kicks in where we have the control centre building,” Indar explained. He added that a temporary building is expected to be constructed to ensure the timeline is met.
“So, we will have to build a temporary one to make sure that we don’t miss the opportunity to dispatch once the power plant commences its operations. Around December of this year that should be completed,” the minister disclosed.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Executive Management Committee of Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL), Kesh Nandlall, echoed that the building will play a key part in the execution of the services of GPL.
He pointed out that it will aid in the agency in managing the power grids in a very efficient manner. “It is intended to house the scanning equipment. It is a very important infrastructure for the development of the power sector going forward since it would be housing the brainchild of the grid.”
The BBC Echo Vessel earlier this month successfully berthed at the Muneshwers Shipping, John Fernandes and Guyana Shore Base Inc (GYSBI) terminals offloading transformers for the gas-to-energy and GPL’s enhancement projects.
Among the 16 transformers delivered were two units, each weighing an unprecedented 241 metric tons—the heaviest cargo ever managed in Guyana, according to GYSBI.
