Gas-to-Energy Project: Take advantage of dry season – Pres Ali tells contractors

…over 500 directly employed in various aspects of project

As preliminary works progress on the much-anticipated Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project, President Dr Irfaan Ali conducted a site visit to get an update on the various components of works during which he told contractors that they needed to take advantage of the current dry season in order to get the project moving.
“You have to push a bit more during this dry season, because the weather is cooperating fully now. One of the good things is that you’re already off the ground, so the weather may not affect you, but you have to make full use of this current condition,” the Head of State charged during his early-morning visit on Thursday.
President Ali spoke with several contractors carrying out different components of works on the Project at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
During the visit, he was updated on the progress of the US$25 million Nismes wharf and laydown yard development being built by GAICO Construction and General Services Inc to support the gas facility.
The wharf facility, which is located on the Demerara River, will be used as an offloading site for all the equipment and materials that will be brought in for the construction of the GtE Project, which will feature a 300-megawatt power plant and an integrated Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant at Wales.
According to GAICO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Komal Singh, the wharf is completed to a stage where it can be used.
“The way the wharf is at this point in time, it can be used. Vessels can moor up in from here. There are bollards also to tie up the vessels when they come up,” he noted.
According to Singh, dredging at the wharf front is 80 per cent complete. Currently, they have a depth of five metres, but the plan is to go to six metres. Additionally, lights will have to be installed at the wharf site, so currently vessels can only be accommodated during the day.
Meanwhile, over at the gas facility site, about two kilometres away, earthworks are currently being undertaken.
While the US$759 million contract was awarded to US-based partnership CH4/Lindsayca for the construction of the two plants, various aspects of the projects are being executed by sub-contractors.
The Project Manager for the earthworks informed President Ali that they were currently engaged in stockpiling activities at the site where the gas facility would be built.
“Basically, in this area, the soil needs to be further consolidated, so that construction can be robustly built on top of it. That will demand stacking sand all over… to a couple of metres in most of the areas.
“The sand will be used to level the [surface and to] make the surcharge that will further consolidate the soil and then on this, the piles will be driven and the structures would be safely constructed for the Gas-to-Energy Project,” the Project Manager noted.
Ali further questioned the project official about the timeline for these earthworks to be carried out, and in response, the Project Manager indicated that the surcharge would be ready for construction work to commence in mid-2024.
“Middle to first half of the year or maybe somewhere around August. There is no exact fixed date, because there are still some designs and calculations going on… It depends on how the surcharge will go and how the soil will react, we will have a good approximation, but this is always contingent on the actual conditions of the soil,” he explained.
Upon completion of these earthworks, Lindsayca will then take over for the construction of the power plant and NGL facility.
Currently, there are over 500 workers directly involved in the various aspects of the project and more are expected to be brought on as the work progresses.
With a timetable to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024 and the NGL plant to be online by 2025, works are progressing on getting the project off the ground. As such, US oil giant ExxonMobil is expected to source the materials and the pipeline, so that they are available for when construction starts later this year.
Some 220 kilometres of subsea pipelines will run from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where Exxon and its partners are currently producing oil, and land on the West Demerara shore, where another 25 kilometres of pipe will run to the Wales Development Zone (WDZ).
The pipeline would be 12 inches wide, and is expected to transport per day some 50 million standard cubic feet (mscfpd) of dry gas to the NGL plant, but it has the capacity to push as much as 120 mscfpd.
When it comes to the construction of a combined cycle power plant, this will generate up to 300 megawatts (MW) of power, with a net 250MW delivered into the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) grid on the East Bank of the Demerara River.
The US$900 million GtE Project will have a 25-year lifespan and is expected to employ up to 800 workers during the peak construction stage, as well as some 40 full-time workers during the operations stage, and another 50 workers during the decommissioning stage. (G8)