Guyana making progress in transitioning to clean energy – UN Permanent Rep

– says Guyana will be even more competitive with reduced energy costs

While certain parts of the world struggle to achieve clean and reliable energy, Guyana is making much progress, through the use of its natural resources, to achieve the transition to clean energy. This is according to Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
During a Wednesday night dialogue on the Summit of the Future, which will be held from September 22 to 23 at the United Nations, Rodrigues-Birkett spoke about Guyana’s energy transition. According to Rodrigues, the energy transition is one of several priority areas that Guyana will champion at various forums, including at the upcoming summit.
“If we take for example the continent of Africa, 43 per cent of the people have no energy at all. And we’re talking about the sustainable development goals. We’re not going to be able to achieve the sustainable development goals if people don’t have energy.”

“They cannot industrialise. And for a long time, our problem in Guyana has been the cost of energy. We’re going to become competitive, as we bring that cost down. And that’s what we’re working on right now,” the Ambassador further said.
When it comes to transitioning to clean energy, Rodrigues-Birkett pointed to the international consensus that the world will still depend on fossil fuels for the next 20 to 30 years. According to her, while Guyana is doing its part in transitioning to clean energy, it will take time.
“We’re not going to be able to phase out fossil fuels tomorrow, in the world. Our position as Guyana, is that we should not be punished, for exploiting our fossil fuel resources. Because other countries have industrialised and they’ve become developed. Because they were able to do that. They should be the ones reducing emissions.”
“But we also have another factor. We have a forest, 80 per cent of the country is covered with forests. And so even as we continue to use fossil fuels and zero net emissions, I think that should be factored. But that being said, we are using our resources to transition to clean energy,” Rodrigues-Birkett added.
The Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project is a central part of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government’s plan to transition to cleaner energy. It will see the construction of a 300-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant and a Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant.
The pipeline and transmission network will be completed by this year. This will allow the power plant and NGL facility being operational by next year. Government has said that in addition to approved reliability, electricity rates could potentially be slashed by 50 per cent.
Only a few days ago, 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. At least two of these transformers weighed an unprecedented 241 metric tons each, setting records as the heaviest cargo ever offloaded in Guyana.
A total of 16 transformers were delivered by. 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.
Meanwhile, LINDSAYCA’s transformers were stored at the GYSBI Industrial Estate at McDoom, until transit to the GtE project site at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD). It was explained that the heavier three of the seven transformers, with a weight of 129 metric tonnes each, were offloaded in a tandem lift between Sammy Multilift Services Guyana Inc. and GYSBI.
In last year’s national budget, the GtE project received a $43.3 billion allocation, in addition to the $24.6 billion injected into the start-up of the transformational project, for the construction of the NGL Plant and the 300-megawatt (MW) Combined Cycle Power Plant at Wales, WBD.
This year, a whopping $80 billion was budgeted to advance this project and its associated infrastructure, including transmission and distribution upgrades to offtake the power. As of January, this year, the marine offloading facility has been completed, and 26 kilometres (km) of onshore pipelines have been installed.
This year, the remaining works include installing risers on the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity, the deepwater pipelaying, and connecting the pipeline to the power plant, which will not come on stream until the end of the first quarter in 2025.
The PPP Administration has also made significant investments in solar energy as well as in hydropower. When it comes to hydropower, the 165-MW Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) has also dominated local conversations for years, and despite setbacks, the current administration is still actively pursuing investments in that project. (G-3)