Guyana’s Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, disclosed on Thursday that the government is engaging world-renowned engineering and consulting firms, Stantec and Worley, for its landmark Gas-to-Energy Project set to come online by 2024.
The former Head of State said tenders were received from interested parties for the construction of the power plant and the natural gas liquids (NGL) facility. It was at this stage he said the government hired Stantec from Canada and Worley from the United Kingdom, to help evaluate the technical aspects of the bid.
“They worked separately so we can then compare their evaluations at a single meeting… We have those evaluations reports and we have named our evaluation teams and so they have the benefit of those reports. They are working now through the evaluation process and hopefully in a matter of a week or two, we will get a recommendation that can go to Cabinet for no-objection,” the Vice President told reporters.
He said too that government will soon go to tender for the transmission main to bring the power across from the power plant at Wales to a substation in Eccles, and then, to distribute across the country.
Jagdeo also noted that the evaluation for the consultancy group to manage the project has been awarded by Cabinet. He said details on this will follow in a subsequent report from the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The Gas-to-Energy project is expected to transport 50 million cubic feet of gas per day in its first phase from Exxon’s Liza field. This will be the source for 250 megawatts (MW) for the main grid and enough natural gas liquids to meet other domestic needs.
The cost of power is expected to be cut by at least 50% for Guyanese households. This project is critical to helping Guyana transition to cleaner energy sources, and for the country’s overall development and diversification of its economy.