The Government of Guyana signed contracts worth US$422 million with Power China and Kalpataru to build transmission infrastructure for the 300-MW gas-to-energy power plant at Wales, a government official said on Friday.
The contracts, the single largest investment in Guyana Power and Light’s infrastructure to date, will be executed in three lots. Power China was awarded Lots 1 and 3 valued at US$256.7 million, while Kalpataru secured Lot 2 for US$156.5 million.
The scope of work includes construction of 155 kilometres of 230-kV double-circuit transmission lines, 167 kilometres of 69-kV double-circuit lines, five new substations and the upgrade of the Kingston Substation. The new substations will be built at La Bonne Intention, Enmore, Trafalgar, Williamsburg and East Berbice.
“The timeline is one year and we are holding you to it,” Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar said. “A lot of times we end up working with competitive bidders who are awarded and then when they are awarded the contract, the haste, you don’t see it in the project.”
“This signing today is part of the design to improve the energy infrastructure. This is what we mean when we say we are building infrastructure for the future,” Indar said.
Indar noted that key elements of the broader gas-to-energy initiative are nearing completion. “The substations will be completed in June, the control centre will be completed in August, all the parts are being completed to receive the power, so we want to make it, so when it comes it is distributed to the country and that is why we are doing this today [Friday],” he said.
Demand for electricity continues to rise in Guyana, Indar said, with 13,974 new customers applying for power in 2024. The Demerara Berbice Interconnected System currently serves around 230,000 customers.
Power China is a Chinese state-owned engineering and construction firm specialising in energy and infrastructure projects, including power generation, transmission and hydropower.
Kalpataru is an India-based engineering and construction company focused on power transmission, oil and gas pipelines and infrastructure development across global markets. (Theenergyyear)
