Electricity demand hits 205MW over past three months – PM Phillips

The government is closely monitoring the surging demand for electricity and is taking measures to meet the nation’s growing power requirements.

According to Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, peak electricity demand has risen significantly in recent months.

He made this announcement on Thursday evening at the Amcham Energy Mixer held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.

“Around three or two months ago in a meeting, they [Guyana Power and Light Inc] 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,” the Prime Minister stated.

Earlier this year, the government secured an additional 36 megawatts from a power ship supplied by a Turkish company to enhance the electricity supply. However, due to the ongoing increase in demand, further resources are being evaluated to ensure a reliable power supply.

“We are now engaging other contractors for 60 additional megawatts before the end of the year. We have to do this in the short term as we wait anxiously on the gas-to-energy project that will bring us to 300 megawatts, which will put all of us in a good position,” Prime Minister Phillips emphasised.

He also highlighted that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is the only administration to have made such a large-scale project a reality.

“The optimists are in power today. Guyana is lucky because the gas-to-energy project will be completed by this government,” Prime Minister Phillips asserted.

With the first phase of the project nearing completion, the government is preparing to focus on the second phase.

The Prime Minister stated that the savings from this initiative would be used to address the energy gap between the hinterland and the coastland. Furthermore, the government intends to market gas and energy throughout the Caribbean.

Reflecting on past energy initiatives, Phillips noted that if Guyanese had embraced the PPP/C Government’s optimism earlier, the country would have already benefited from an additional 165 megawatts of electricity since 2017.

With the rise of new schools, hospitals, hotels, and increased demand in the housing sector, the government is implementing strategies to facilitate this growth in energy needs.