By Feona Morrison

RAMSAY Ali, President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), has emphasised the country’s Gas-to-Energy project’s revolutionary potential and said that it could serve as a springboard for the establishment of a glass bottle factory and a recycling plant.

Speaking on this week’s episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, he stressed the importance of leveraging the Gas-to-Energy project to diversify Guyana’s industrial sector.

“Most definitely,” he said, adding that a glass bottle factory can be built after the Gas-to-Energy project starts up. He explained that the high cost of electricity made it impractical to build such a factory, making references to earlier feasibility studies.

Ali provided background information on the operation of a glass bottle factory by stating, “When you start that plant, you can’t turn it off. It doesn’t make sense to turn it off. It has to keep running. That’s how it works best. That’s the best efficiency you get when you start something like that.”

Guyana Power and Light (GPL), a state-owned company, dominates the country’s power market. However, many of Guyana’s biggest manufacturers, including Sterling Products Limited and Banks DIH Limited, produce their own electricity in order to have access to cheap and reliable power.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has carried out a feasibility assessment on the viability of building a glass bottle plant in Guyana, according to the President of the GMSA.

He added that the results of the study are back, but he could not release them.

Concerns that a glass bottle producer in Trinidad would not be able to meet the demand in the region, prompted the GMSA to apply to the IDB for funding for the study. Reports indicated that Ernst and Young Global Limited was engaged by the bank to carry out the research.
“I believe that based on what I know…given the amount of people I have spoken to in the manufacturing sector in Guyana, it [the glass bottle factory] is going to get done because there are a number of businesses in Guyana who will get together to build such a factory,” he added.

The GMSA President called for collaborative efforts between the government, the local private sector, and regional companies to realise this vision.

Guyana used to have a glass bottle factory years ago. A considerable demand for glass bottles has been generated by two large beverage companies, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) and Banks DIH Limited, as well as other manufacturers and agro-processors.

Additionally, Ali outlined a vision where the glass bottle factory could be integrated with a comprehensive solid waste recycling plan. This initiative would involve collecting and processing recyclable materials, thereby reducing waste and promoting a sustainable environment.

He said that years ago, the high cost and unreliability of electricity made the establishment of such a plant impractical since the plant “has to keep running” once it is started.

Guyana has had trouble disposing of waste for a long time, and major stakeholders believe that the country needs a recycling facility to get rid of its rubbish.

He emphasised that the recycling facility and glass bottle factory are two enormous initiatives that have the potential to significantly alter Guyana’s course.

Together with CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited and Hess Guyana Exploration, its co-venture partners in the 6.6 million acres prolific Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil Guyana is working with the Government of Guyana to advance the Gas-to-Energy project.

It is anticipated that the project, which would supply associated gas from offshore ExxonMobil Guyana-operated projects (Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2), will increase efficiency, generate new economic growth prospects, and reduce energy costs by up to 50 per cent.

Once commissioned, the project’s pipeline would transport up to 50 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas to a power plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facilities.

It has an estimated total cost of US$1.8 billion and is cost recoverable. The Gas-to-Energy project is expected to be up and running by the first half of 2025 and has a 25-year lifespan.