Wales Development Zone: Proposals received for purchasing natural gas, setting up industries – Bharrat

…says project well advanced, EPC contractors already on site

Work is still ongoing on the infrastructure for the gas-to-energy project and already, Government is in receipt of a number of proposals including for the purchase of gas and proposals for the establishment of various industries for the Wales Development Zone (WDZ).
During a recent exclusive interview with this publication, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat provided an update on the Gas-to-Shore Project. Specifically, Bharrat explained that the Engineering, Procuring and Construction (EPC) contractors have already started their work.
The EPC contractors include Kalpataru Projects International Limited (KPIL), which won a US$159 million contract for the transmission lines and substations’ component of the Gas-to-Shore Project.
Last year, the consortium of CH4 Guyana Inc/Lindsayca Inc emerged out of a competitive process as the winning bid for the US$759 million contract to construct the 300MW Combined Cycle Power Plant and NGL Plant under an EPC contract, which will be supervised by a global supervision firm – Engineers India Limited.
“We’re working on the power plant and the NGL plant. That project has progressed significantly. The early works are completed. The EPC contractors have taken over the site. And the wharf facility is completed. The laying of pipelines has already started. That project would have progressed significantly already,” Bharrat said.

The Minister further explained that the area around the Wales Development Zone has already been mapped out. Further, a number of proposals have already been received from private developers, including those interested in purchasing gas and launching different industries.
“As to the development around it, the area has been mapped out. So, at some point in time President will announce the next step of next stage and how we move forward with that. But the priority is power generation.”
“We have received a number of proposals for different industries, different proposals. Proposals for gas, the purchase of gas. So, all of that will be considered,” Minister Bharrat further explained.
Under the gas-to-energy project, an Integrated Natural Gas Liquid Plant and 300-Megawatt Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plant will be built. An industrial park, called the Wales Development Zone, will also be built and benefit directly from the gas. It had been announced that the Government would seek proposals for the zone, which will be overseen by the Wales Development Authority.
Apart from the power plant and NGL plant, the scope of the US$900 million Gas-to-Shore Project, which has a 25-year lifespan, also consists of the construction of 225 kilometres of pipeline from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where ExxonMobil and its partners are currently producing oil.
Approximately 220 kilometres of subsea pipelines offshore will run from the Liza Destiny and Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block to the shore. Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipeline will continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the NGL plant at Wales.
Exxon, with funding from cost oil, is expected to deliver the completed pipeline by the fourth quarter of next year, in order to allow for the commissioning and testing ahead of the power plant coming online by the end of 2024.
The pipeline would be 12 inches wide, and is expected to transport some 50 million standard cubic feet (mscfpd) of dry gas per day to the NGL plant, but has the capacity to push as much as 120 mscfpd. The route of the pipeline onshore would follow the same path as the fibreoptic cables, and would terminate at Hermitage, part of the Wales Development Zone (WDZ) where the Gas-to-Shore Project would be housed.
While the Guyana Government would own the 300MW power plant and NGL plant, it would be recruiting an international firm to operate the project to international standards and best practices. (G3)