Some 21 companies have submitted Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to be pre-qualified for the construction of the natural gas-fired power plant and the natural gas liquids (NGL) plant components of the gas-to-shore project.
This was revealed by Head of the Gas-to-Shore Taskforce, Winston Brassington, during an update on the project at the ongoing oil and gas conference being held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel.
He explained that ExxonMobil Guyana, which is funding the pipeline aspect of the project out of cost oil, has found that there would be substantial savings from combining these two facilities. Hence, it was agreed that the power plant and the NGL plant be done as a combined Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) process.
“So, we went out in public advertisement in December inviting firms to be pre-qualified for the construction of both the power plant and the NGL plant as a combined unit; and we received in January, over 21 Expressions of Interest or pre-qual applications. Those are currently being reviewed,” Brassington informed the conference.
He disclosed that this process was expected to be completed this quarter, after which the Request for Proposals (RFP) would be issued for the prequalified bidders to make their submissions. He explained that this could be done in stages, but the priority would be for the power plant.
With a timetable to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024 and the NGL plant to be online by 2025, Brassington said works were progressing on getting the project off the ground. As such, during the first half of this year, Exxon will be placing the orders for the materials, including the pipelines, so that they are available for when construction starts later this year.
“The final engineering will be completed by the third quarter [of this year] and we expected, by year end, to have all of the commercial agreements and Exxon’s Final Investment Decision (FID). So, construction will then start at the end of the year with commercial start-up of the power plant using the rich gas by the end of 2024 and the remaining facilities being completed in 2025,” he stated.
The scope of the US$900 million gas-to-shore project consists of the construction of 225 kilometres of pipelines from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where Exxon and its partners are currently producing oil. The pipelines would be 12 inches wide which guarantees a capacity of 50 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd), with a maximum capacity of 120 mmscfd.
The pipelines route onshore will follow the same path as the fibreoptic cables and will terminate at Hermitage, part of the Wales Development Zone (WDZ) which will house the gas-to-shore project.
The Guyana Government has invited interested parties to make investments in the WDZ, which will be heavily industrialised and for which approximately 150 acres of lands have been allocated. Those lands were previously used by the Wales Sugar Estate.
The other component of the project is the construction of a combined cycle power plant that will generate up to 300 megawatts (MW) of power with net 250 MW delivered into the Guyana Power and Light grid at a sub-station located on the East Bank of the Demerara River.
Simultaneously, GPL will be rebuilding its transmission system to facilitate the 230-kilovolt (kV) power, which is way above its current capacity of 69kV.
The Government said a power plant would be established to generate 150MW, with an additional 150 MW in a second phase, and that an industrial park would be established comprising industries that could use gas, steam and/or electricity.
Meanwhile, the NGL facility will be capable of producing at least 4000 barrels per day, including the fractionation (or separating out) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
When the gas-to-shore project comes on stream late 2024, it is expected to reduce Guyana’s energy sector emissions and also cut electricity cost by more than half. The high cost of power has been hindering investments in Guyana for years.
President Dr Irfaan Ali made it clear at the opening of the conference on Tuesday that Government would not be backing down from its ambitious energy agenda. He emphasised that reducing the cost of energy was imperative if Guyana was to become globally competitive.
“We’ve already commenced the process by investing in 13 new solar farms, three mini hydros, one large hydro at Amaila Falls and the Natural Gas Project… All aimed at increasing our power generation to 500 MW by 2025. Let me be clear on this. We will remain uncompetitive if we cannot address the cost of energy. We must address the cost of energy. Our Private Sector will not be able to grow if we cannot bring down the cost of energy. And we will bring down the cost of energy,” the Head of State stated.
