See below full release from the Guyana Oil & Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC):
President of the Guyana Oil & Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC), Mr. Manniram Prashad congratulates the Government of Guyana for a well put together Budget 2023 aimed at advancing Guyana’s development while balancing the needs of the people. Minister with responsibility for Finance, Hon. Dr. Ashni Singh within the Office of the President, presented the largest budget to the National Assembly, yesterday, January 16th, 2023, on behalf of the Government. The budget represents an increase of 41.4% over the 2022 budget, amounting to a whopping $781.9 billion. This is the first budget to be financed from the sale of carbon credit–the sum of $31.3 billion, representing 4.0% of the total budget.
In keeping with His Excellency, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s vision and Vice President, Hon. Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo’s astute management of the Oil and Gas Sector, GOGEC supports the continued development of the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project with the allocation of $43.4 billion to support the construction of a 300 megawatts (MW) Combined-cycle gas turbine power plant, natural gas liquids plant, and associated facilities.
The project represents a significant investment towards unlocking greater economic diversification and private sector transformation by reducing the cost of electricity by 50%. It marks an essential step for a robust and technologically sophisticated manufacturing sector. Similarly, the energy cost-savings to households will ease income pressures and improve energy access and overall quality of life, especially for our vulnerable population. At the cost of US$1 billion, the project’s direct and indirect benefits will see a marked decline in overall consumer prices for food and other essential goods and services.
GOGEC also recognizes the immense improvement to both the reliability of electricity supply brought by gas and the improved stability needed to sequentially incorporate intermittent renewable energy systems, such as solar and wind. By 2025, with 300MW of new baseload capacity provided with Natural Gas, the reliability of the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) grid will increase while the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions associated with electricity generation will be reduced by half.
