Electricity demand climbs to 221 MW; GPL projects surge to 300 MW by 2026

Guyana’s electricity demand has surged to unprecedented levels, with the country recording a peak of 221.3 megawatts in September, up from 180 megawatts during the same period last year.

The surge is putting increased pressure on the national grid, with authorities pointing to the Gas-to-Shore Project as the critical solution to meeting the growing energy needs.

This was revealed by Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, on Monday. He said the demand is expected to climb even higher in the coming months.

“With new housing schemes, warehouses, hotels and other developments, the grid is already under pressure.”

“By next year, demand will rise even further. The delivery of the Gas-to-Shore project is urgent because we will face the demand increase. We are seeing it already,” Indar said.

October, he said, is expected be the “hottest” month and demand is likely to further increase.

In fact, Team Leader at GPL, Kesh Nandlall, warned that peak demand could reach almost 300 megawatts by next September.

“We (GPL) have been experiencing very high demand.”

“What I am seeing, the peak next year, September–October, is going to be almost 300. We need to plan for that,” Nandlall said.

In response, Ruben Figuera, Director of Special Projects at Lindsayca, the engineering and construction partner for the Gas-to-Shore project said efforts are underway to accelerate delivery.

“We are working on optimizing the simple cycle, unit by unit, so we can provide electricity at the earliest opportunity, even if it is not the full system.

By the end of the month, we will release a schedule. I ask for patience as we finalise testing over the next two weeks,” he explained.

With demand accelerating alongside housing, commercial, and industrial development, authorities say the Gas-to-Shore Project will be central to ensuring Guyana’s future power stability.