Gas-to-shore project: Prequalified bidders to submit proposals within 2 months – President Ali

The nine prequalified bidders are expected to make their final plans for the construction of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s flagship gas-to-shore project within two months of having received the Request For Proposals (RPF).

This was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali, who disclosed that the RPF would be issued sometime within the next two weeks.
“Within two weeks, the Request For Proposals will be issued to the pre-qualified bidders. Within two months, thereafter, we expect specific proposals to be submitted and to initiate the process to award the contract. By the end of this term, we’ll be generating 250 to 300 megawatts of power, powered by natural gas,” the Head of State noted during his Independence Day message on Wednesday evening.
Last month, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had disclosed that nine companies were pre-qualified for the construction of the natural gas-fired power plant and the natural gas liquids (NGL) plant components of the gas-to-shore project. He explained that since these two facilities were going to be combined, the RFP would take some time to prepare before being issued by this month-end.

Head of the Gas-to-Shore Task Force, Winston Brassington previously stated ExxonMobil Guyana, which is funding the pipeline aspect of the project out of cost oil, has found that there would be substantial savings from combining these two facilities. Hence, it was agreed that the power plant and the NGL plant be done under a combined Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) process.
The aim is to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024 for the power plant while the NGL facility is slated to be online by 2025.
Jagdeo told reporters that the Guyana Government was committed to owning both facilities with the intention to use the rich gas produced to generate electricity to feed into the national grid thus potentially lowering costs and improving power efficiency in the country. He said the NGL facility could be a lucrative venture for the country and would quickly amortise the pipeline as well as other investments into the project.
Against this backdrop, President Ali further revealed that the Government would be creating the conditions to supply cooking gas, at least three times more than Guyana’s national demand. This way, he noted, the country will be in a position to develop a whole range of other derived liquids that it can monetised.
“In addition, the design of the pipeline caters for future additional supply of gas which will allow us to deliver a wide range of value-added activities which may include manufacturing and industrial development, and give us the potential to explore and have our production of fertiliser done here locally to support agriculture and the farmers and farming community,” the Guyanese Leader stated.
According to President Ali, this aggressive effort to advance the project demonstrates his Government’s commitment to reducing the cost of energy in the country by 50 per cent.
Moreover, the Head of State also spoke about his Administration embarking on a plan to bring a total of 500 megawatts of new generating capacity into the national grid through various renewable energy sources.
Only last month, ExxonMobil, through its local affiliate – Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) – submitted its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, seeking approval for the gas-to-shore project in which it is injecting some US$1.3 billion and wants to see the inclusion of women in the construction of the facility.
The purpose of the EIA is to provide the factual and technical basis required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make an informed decision on EEPGL’s Application for Environmental Authorisation for the project.

Following the receipt of the EIA earlier this week, the EPA has since given a 60-day timeline for the public to make submissions on the project.
When the EPA grants the Environmental Authorisation to EEPGL and its co-venturers in the Stabroek Block – Hess Guyana Exploration Limited and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, construction is likely to commence soon after receiving all other approvals. In fact, the oil company is targeting August this year to start the preparation of the NGL plant site. The entire construction process will take some three years hence rich gas is expected to be delivered onshore by the end of 2024, and the NGL plant to be operational by mid-2025.
The gas-to-shore project, which has a 25-year lifespan, 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.
The scope of the US$900 million gas-to-shore project consists of the construction of 225 kilometres of pipelines from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where Exxon and its partners are currently producing oil.
It features approximately 220 kilometres of a subsea pipeline offshore that will run from the <<<Liza Destiny>>> and <<<Unity>>> Floating Production, Storage And Offloading Vessels (FPSOs) in the Stabroek Block to the shore. Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipeline will continue approximately 25 kilometres to the NGL plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara.
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 NGL plant, but has the capacity to push as much as 120 mscfpd.
The pipeline route onshore will follow the same path as the fibreoptic cables and will terminate at Hermitage, part of the Wales Development Zone (WDZ), which will house the gas-to-shore project.
The Guyana Government has invited interested parties to make investments in the WDZ, which will be heavily industrialised and for which approximately 150 acres of land have been allocated. Those lands were previously used by the Wales Sugar Estate.