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– “All-in Cost” of Power Ships at $186M Daily, AFC Chair Says
Georgetown, Guyana — The Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman and Member of Parliament David Patterson, at the party’s press conference on November 8, 2024, strongly criticized the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government’s recent decision to rent an additional power ship, highlighting the high costs involved and labeling the management of the country’s power supply “abysmal.”
Patterson broke down the expenses associated with the 36-megawatt and 75-megawatt power ships as “staggering” and questioned the government’s spending, which he noted amounts to $48 million Guyana dollars per day in rental fees alone. “Guyana will be paying $17.8 billion per year, or $35.6 billion over the two-year contract, just for rental,” he asserted, adding that fuel and transportation would bring the total to over $94 billion GYD.
The AFC Chairman outlined the “all-in cost” to the country, which, when accounting for administrative, dispatch, and transmission expenses, totals $186 million GYD per day. Patterson stated this brings the total cost of power from these rented ships to approximately $68.51 GYD per kilowatt-hour, a figure he described as “unsustainable” and well above the cost of permanent generation solutions.
Patterson argued that the PPP’s approach lacks foresight, pointing out that renting power ships is a short-term fix for ongoing outages rather than a sustainable energy solution. “We could have purchased 180 megawatts of power for the same price,” he stated, contrasting it with the approach of the previous administration under the APNU+AFC coalition. Patterson further criticized the current administration for delaying the gas-to-shore project, originally projected to be operational by the end of 2024 but now facing at least a year’s delay.
The AFC Chairman expressed concern that the rental agreement will saddle the nation with long-term costs that do not improve the infrastructure. Patterson concluded by stressing that the funds used for these rental agreements could have been allocated to permanent solutions, like new power generation equipment or direct benefits for citizens, such as public service wage increases.
