Guyana announces tender for new power plant and natural gas liquids facility
Guyana issued on Friday a request for proposal to build a natural gas liquids processing facility and a gas-fired electricity plant, both projects that will feed industrial clients from the country's mostly untapped offshore reserves of gas.
A nation of 800,000.000 people is dependent on fuel imports for power generation. Consumers are subject to frequent blackouts due to faulty grids and production shortfalls.
The government set a deadline of Nov. 14, for proposals for the design and financing, as well as the operation, of a combined-cycle 250-megawatt power plant. This facility would provide electricity to the state utility for a period between 20-25 years.
The tender includes an installation that would produce approximately 6,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day by using about 75 million cubic feet of offshore gas per day.
The South American country has said that the projects are intended to be owned by the private sector, but it reserves the rights to purchase them at any time after they have been commissioned.
These developments are the second part of Guyana’s gas-to power strategy. The government is pushing to secure gas from Exxon Mobil fields where over 11 billion barrels worth of recoverable oil or gas has been discovered.
Through a consortium, Exxon Hess CNOOC controls all the oil and gas production in Guyana.
Soon, the companies will complete an underwater pipeline to supply gas from their Liza Destiny & Liza Unity floating installations to onshore projects.
Officials have stated that the pipeline will deliver gas to a 300MW power plant and the first NGL facility, as part of the $1.9billion first phase of the Gas-to-Power strategy. The plan is to generate electricity by the fourth quarter 2025.
The tender, published by the Prime Minister's office, stated that gas from the second phase would be used for power generation, other industries and a proposed fertilizer factory.
Exxon began producing oil in Guyana in 2019 All production is currently exported.
(source: Reuters)
