GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sept 15, CMC -The Guyana government says the rapid expansion of the economy has placed unprecedented pressure on the existing electricity infrastructure as it acknowledged the reliability of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) network.
“We cannot promise that there will never be another interruption… but not what we are having now. Unacceptable,” President Irfaan Ali said, adding that the solution requires “major investment… in a comprehensive way”.
Ali told a news conference that his administration is aware of the challenges facing the country’s electricity system and is committed to major investment to strengthen the national grid.
“We cannot continue with an unreliable system,” he said, citing an independent report from the Dominican-Republic based InterEnergy, which has a corporate presence across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The government had commission the study to assess the system and President Ali said peak demand on the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System rose from about 205 megawatts in 2024 to 242.6 megawatts in August 2026.
This represents an 18 per cent increase, which is more than five times the 3.4 per cent average growth rate across the Latin America and Caribbean region.
The report projects electricity demand could rise by approximately 138 per cent by 2029, while GPL is expected to add more than 62,000 new customers as homes, businesses and industries continue connecting to the grid.
President Ali said the government is absorbing rising fuel import costs, including an 86.8 per cent jump in diesel used for generation, through increased subsidies, so the increases are not passed on to consumers.
He said discussions held during his recent state visit to Qatar could result in a potential source of financing for the scale of investment required.
“We have to make the investment, and this is one of the things Qatar also is ready to help on,” he said, noting that billions of dollars have already being invested in generation, transmission and distribution upgrades.
President Ali said the upgrades include more than 360 kilometres of new high-voltage transmission lines, over 10 new substations, and grid modernisation measures such as advanced metering and battery energy storage.
InterEnergy has recommended an independent grid reliability task force, smart metering, additional generating capacity, and further transmission and distribution investment.
CMC/gt/ir/2026