Co-gen system at Skeldon derailed after APNU/AFC closure of sugar estate – report

…assessment determines co-gen plants at Albion, Uitvlugt feasible

The co-generation plant at Skeldon Estate, which was operated by Skeldon Energy Incorporated (SEI) and utilised bagasse from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to produce energy, is no longer functioning as a co-generation system due to the closure of the estate by the previous Government.
According to the Energy Brief which was released by the Government, the Skeldon Estate Co-generation Power Plant that once generated 30MW of power using bagasse produced from sugar, offered practical experience in the use of biomass as an energy source. That is until the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government closed the estate.
“There is some practical experience in the use of biomass as an energy resource for self-consumption like rice husk in the rice mills, the use of the distillate waste to produce biomethane at Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) or the use of bagasse for co-generation at the Skeldon Sugar Estate.”

“The Skeldon Estate Co-generation Power Plant — for 30MW of electricity generation using bagasse from the sugar process — was designed to produce excess power that would be exported to the grid. The plant is no longer working as a co-generation system due to the closure of the sugar factory,” the report noted.
However, while the Skeldon Power Plant is no longer functioning as it used to, the Government has conducted assessments on whether co-generation plants are feasible at the Albion and Uitvlugt Sugar Estates. According to the report, it was concluded that it is feasible to install at least a total power capacity of 23MW.
The co-generation plant was purchased from GuySuCo for an announced price of US$30 million by SEI – a special purpose company owned by the Government’s holding company, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), and the Guyana Power and Light (GPL).
But by June 2017, the second year of APNU/AFC in power, they were describing the Co-gen Plant as a ‘ticking time bomb’ that required US$2.5 million to restart the 30MW bagasse-fuelled component of the facility, and an additional US$17 million in order to fix other deficiencies. In 2018, the then APNU/AFC Government officially closed the Skeldon Sugar Estate.
Major developments are expected in the sugar sector, including higher performance from existing estates and production from the reopened Rose Hall Estate. An output of almost 61,000 tonnes of sugar and the growth of the subsector by 29.3 per cent, are expected in 2023.
The Government’s efforts to reopen the Rose Hall Estate will see a whopping $1.1 billion being expended. This sum represents more than 50 per cent of a $2 billion allocation from Budget 2023 and will go towards, among other things, completing works in the factory.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha had explained during the examination of the budget estimates that $50 million will be spent on road works in the surrounding area. According to the Minister, $452 million has been allocated to Albion Estate and $300 million to start construction on the packaging plant, $287 million for Blairmont and $56 million for Uitvlugt Estate.
After taking office in 2020, the PPP/C Government had announced in the Emergency Budget presented in September 2020, that some $5 billion would be injected into the sugar industry for the phased reopening of the closed estates.
GuySuCo was allocated a further $2 billion in Budget 2021 by the PPP/C Government for capital works to be undertaken at the various estates to help in the turnaround of the sugar industry. Last year GuySuCo received $1 billion in supplementary funds from the Government.
And in Budget 2023, $4 billion was allocated. According to Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh in his budget speech, the Government remains committed to the revitalisation and restructuring of the sugar industry to support a diversified and modernised sector, ensuring its sustainability and economic viability. (G3)