GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Monday May 29, 2018 – More than 200 Guyanese will be employed during the civil works and construction phase for natural gas and liquid petroleum plants.

The disclosure has come from Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson.

“It could be more because we have to do work on the site; the foundation for the plant, fencing and GPL (Guyana Power and Light) would be running a new transmission line from the site to GPL to the new substation, so we will need persons for those works. Of course, ExxonMobil would have its own employees on board as well,” he explained.

When the plant becomes operational, 30 to 40 people will be permanently employed as maintenance and operational crew.

The use of natural gas for GPL to generate electricity was deemed feasible and an East Coast Demerara village has been identified for the laying of a pipeline that will transfer the fuel to shore.

The site is 475 acres, while the natural gas and liquid petroleum plants will be approximately 20-25 acres. Patterson, who is responsible for the energy sector said the remaining 450 acres have been dedicated for an industrial park aimed at supplying the manufacturing sector with inexpensive electricity.

“Other benefits we’re looking at from the natural gas plant include making the same cheap electricity available to our manufacturing sector directly, rather than them going to GPL and then coming back. If any of the industries wish to use natural gas to power their operations, they can receive as well. That way, they will be able to produce products cheaper,” Patterson underlined.

A US$70,000 desk study is being conducted by consultants Energy Narrative on the options, cost, economics, impact and key considerations of transporting and utilising offshore natural gas for electricity generation.

US oil giant ExxonMobil has confirmed that there is sufficient natural gas in the reserves to supply a 200-megawatt electricity plant. Natural gas, while not green, is cleaner than fossil fuel which is currently consumed for electricity generation.

The usage of the natural gas to generate electricity could result in lower costs for GPL and ultimately cheaper energy for consumers.