…setback costs Guyana US$884M and counting
(Kaieteur News) – Lindsayca Guyana Inc, the company that was initially awarded a US759M contract by the Government of Guyana (GoG) to deliver 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity by the end of 2024 has failed consistently to meet promised deadlines with the project now expected to deliver a fraction of power by the end of 2026.

The delays have resulted in multimillion US-dollars losses for Guyana as the country’s rapid expansion continues to demand increased electricity supply.

While the company pushes to meet another deadline, the GoG is still deciding whether the contractor will face any penalties if it fails again to deliver power to the country by the end of the year.

During a recent press conference, Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar said, “At the end of the year, myself and the Prime Minister have gotten the commitment from Lindsayca, the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) contractor that we will get one of the turbines that will generate 57MW of power.”

As such, Kaieteur News questioned government officials to say whether Lindsayca could face penalities for failing to meet the yearend deadline.

To this end, Prime Minister Mark Phillips explained, “We’re taking things one step at a time. We had a meeting with Lindsayca and we left the meeting with the assurance that they would reach the deadline for simple-cycle power in December 2026. Let’s give them an opportunity to deliver. When we reach that point we’ll determine the next step.”

Kaieteur News reported that the two-year delay of the Wales GTE project is expected to cost the country approximately US$884M or more than the initial cost of the two gas plants currently under construction.

The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract, stipulates that Lindsayca is responsible for the design, procurement and construction of the Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant and a 300 MW natural gas fire plant at Wales.

The GoG promised that the project would slash electricity tariffs by 50% but so far Guyanese continue to pay high bills and a ballooning price for the plants.

So far, Guyana forked out an additional US$97M to the contractor over a legal dispute.

Additionally, the country has been forced to keep importing Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to continue generating power which amounted to US$619M for the two-year period. This amount is estimated to increase by the end of this year due to the increased cost of HFOs as highlighted by the Prime Minister.

It should be noted that in addition to the fuel cost for GPL, Guyana was forced to hire two Turkish powerships to supplement the national grid. The rental bill on the country is GY$126M daily, as was previously highlighted by Interim Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), David Patterson.

As such, the extensive delays in project is expected to cost Guyana a massive US$884M more.

Original link posted by Kaieteur News on August 25, 2026