–          as peak demand topped 221 MW this year

WITH continuous growth in various sectors, the demand for power is expected to increase to over 300 megawatts (MW) by next year.
This was disclosed by Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar and Team Leader of the Executive Management Committee at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Kesh Nandlall, during a site visit to the landmark Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project.
Minister Indar, while speaking to members of the media on site, stated that a few days ago, he received a report from GPL which noted that the country reached its peak demand at some 221.3 MW.

He added that for that to happen in September is unprecedented, as October is normally the hottest month, during which demand for power increases.
In 2024, around this same time, he said that peak demand was just around 180 MW, which shows that there was a significant increase from that period to now.
“Coming to next year around this same time, with the housing development that we have in place… the existing houselots that are being developed plus the commercialisation, where houses are being built… all sorts of demand are on the grid; it will go up,” he said.

It was against this backdrop that he highlighted that the delivery of the GtE project will aid in meeting the demand increase being seen on the grid.
Meanwhile, Nandlall, while speaking to contractors of Lindsayca at the site, noted that the country has been experiencing very high demand for quite some time.
As such, with the demand seen now, he said that this is expected to go up exponentially with more hotels, housing areas, hospitals and other critical infrastructure being built.
“What I’m seeing, the peak next year, September/October, it will hit almost 300 MW, we need to plan for that,” he told the contractors.
Over the years, the government has embarked on numerous initiatives aimed at increasing Guyana’s power-generation capacity.

While long-term measures such as the GtE are in the works, short-term measures have been activated, such as the use of power barges to stabilise supply.
Earlier this year, a contract was signed to expand and upgrade the country’s transmission and distribution network.
The upgrades to the transmission system will replace outdated infrastructure, integrating cutting-edge technology which aligns with global standards.