Jagdeo defends rental of second powership

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday defended the Government’s move to rent a second powership to supply electricity to the country, as demand increases.

Speaking during his weekly press conference, the Vice President said “we’re trying to get more power into the system because the demand has grown because of the development here.”

The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company on Wednesday, November 13, signed a contract with the Joint Venture, Karpowership Global DMCC & UCC Energy International LLC JV for the rental of a second powership. The additional powership comes with a total installed capacity of 75 Megawatts (MWs) for a period of two years, and is based in the Demerara River.

The first powership which arrived in Guyana in April supplies 36 MWs of power and is based in the Berbice River. That ship was rented from Urbacon Concessions Investments, W.L.L (UCI), a subsidiary of UCC Holdings, incorporated in the State of Qatar, which maintains a strategic alliance with the Turkish firm, Karpowership International.

Responding to criticisms of cost of this venture, Jagdeo explained that the rental of the ships will provide electricity until the Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project is completed.

“For two years, it is bridging power. For two years, before the Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project comes onstream,” he noted.

The Vice President added that the price to generate electricity is “almost the same” when compared to what is being purchased.

Jagdeo reminded that the Government has also worked to provide subsidies to GPL to ensure that the price for electricity remains stable though fuel costs climb.

“People should know that US$70M in subsidy is keeping their power bill at the same rate as 2020 although we’re seen escalation in fuel costs. And secondly, you can’t calculate rental of a ship as though you don’t have a counterpart of a cost if you generate the same power,” Jagdeo said.