$40.8B spent in 1st half of 2024 to advance GtE Project

– installation of transformers to begin by this year end

The 2024 Mid-Year report has revealed that during the first half of the year, $40.8 Billion was spent to advance work on the transformational Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project, which will provide an additional 300 Megawatts (MW) of power to the grid when it comes on stream next year.
The report states that the GtE is progressing steadily. It was pointed out that $40.8 billion was spent to advance works that included the installation of 9,018 of 9,614 joints of a deepwater natural gas pipeline.
“The pipeline is on schedule to be completed by the end of 2024, with the hook-up to the station expected in the first half of 2025. Further, the material offloading facility is now utilised while piling has started for the commencement of the foundation activities… works were completed on 114 of the 371 pole foundations for the installation of transmission lines,” the report states.

In keeping with the plans that were supposed to have been carried out to connect the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels to the project, the report confirmed that the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSOs were shut down briefly in July by ExxonMobil Guyana to facilitate the pipeline connection necessary to deliver the gas.
The scope of Guyana’s GtE Project consists of the construction of 225 kilometres of pipeline from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where Exxon and its partners are currently producing oil.
It features approximately 200 kilometres of a subsea pipeline offshore that will be laid by ExxonMobil and run from Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block to the shore.
Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara (WCD) shore, the pipeline would continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the NGL Plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD). The pipeline would be 12 inches wide and is expected to transport some 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mscfpd) of dry gas to the processing facilities, but it can push as much as 120 mscfpd.
Transformers
Meanwhile, work to install the transformers, a shipment of which arrived in Guyana back in July 2024, will begin by this year’s end. The report also provided an update on works to install the poles necessary for the transmission lines.
“Looking ahead, the installation of transformers is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 to supply an additional 300 MW of power to the grid,” the report explains.
In July, Guyana had received a shipment of transformers that will be installed in the GtE Project as well as in the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) upgrades. The arrival of these transformers broke records and with at least two of them weighing an unprecedented 241 metric tons each, they made history as the heaviest cargo ever offloaded in Guyana.
A total of 16 transformers were delivered by shipping. Nine of them were sourced by Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL), which was contracted last year to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for the transmission lines and substations’ component of the GtE Project.
Cranes Guyana Inc. (CGI), a subsidiary of Muneshwers Limited and John Fernandes Limited, was awarded the contract by Boltcargo India to manage the discharge, side-wharfage, transportation, and storage of the nine transformers.
AFHP
The GtE Project is expected to be complemented by the renewable energy that will be provided by the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP). According to the Mid-Year report, the longer-term energy investment in the AFHP remains “under active consideration”.
Back in October 2023, the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project under a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model was launched. According to published documents from the Prime Minister’s Office, the project would integrate and expand GPL’s national grid capacity to include Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
Companies were asked to submit one proposal based on a BOOT model, which includes the construction of a hydro dam, transmission lines from Amaila to Linden, plus sub-stations at the Amalia site as well as upgrades and completion of roads and bridges to the site. According to documents, the hydro project may be re-engineered to take account of changes in turbine technology, thus allowing more than 165MW to be generated and transmitted.
In December, four companies – Rialma S.A. (Grupo Rialma) from Brazil; China International Water & Elec. Corp; Lindsayca CH4 Guyana Inc, and a group made up of OEC, GE Vernova and Worley – had submitted tenders to be prequalified for the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.
The AFHP – a brainchild of the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, has been on the cards since 2011. However, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) Opposition parties, having a one-seat majority in 2014, barred the project from becoming a reality. (G-3)