Guyana receives backup power bids amid peak demand spike

Five groups submitted proposals in Guyana Power & Light’s (GPL) call to provide 60MW of net power generation baseload capacity.

The participants were VAS Energy with offers of US$36.5mn (40MW) and US$25mn (26MW), Andalusian Energy US$47.7mn (60MW), JP Energy Solutions US$37.7mn (60MW), Machinery Corporation of Guyana US$0.0645/kWh, and Karpowership Global DMCC-Urbacon Trading & Contracting US$116mn (60MW), procurement information shows.

The winner will inject power into the Demerara Berbice interconnected system, the country’s largest grid.

The request for proposals, issued last month, is part of actions to cover growing demand until the gas-to-energy’s 300MW power plant comes online next year.

Recently, the 36MW Karpowership Baris Bey vessel began dispatching electricity into the grid.

“Around three or two months ago in a meeting, they [Guyana Power and Light] told us that the peak demand for electricity was somewhere around 188 and 189 megawatts. And yesterday they told us that the peak is now around 205 megawatts,” Prime Minister Mark Phillips said last week, the Department of Public Information (DPI) reported.

Vice president Bharrat Jagdeo added, “we’re in a mad rush to keep pace until that big project comes on stream next year that will put 300MW into the system,” according to DPI, which highlighted that peak demand is at 172MW, against a generating capacity of 192MW.

Also from the country's power sector, the Guyana Energy Agency seeks consultants to conduct a final project evaluation of the renewable energy solutions for the Hinterland component of an IDB-financed energy matrix diversification program.

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