Negotiations between Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Incorporated and Turkish energy company Karpowership’s new agreement for the continued supply of electricity is 99 per cent complete, according to Public Utilities Minister Deodat Indar.
Although the Minister had indicated that GPL would issue a statement by Friday outlining the outcome of the negotiations and the way forward, no such statement had been released up to Saturday evening.
Nevertheless, providing an update on the negotiation, Indar declined to discuss the substance of the talks but explained that the negotiations were being conducted by GPL and Karpowership and should be allowed to conclude before details are made public.
“GPL and the company were doing the negotiations. Allow them to issue the statement. They should do so in one day. There is no reluctance in providing information. I spoke about this at length all the time… There is no reluctance, but you don’t negotiate in the public. It is not concluded; it is 99 per cent,” Indar said.
While maintaining that the negotiations were nearing completion, the Minister refrained from disclosing any details of the proposed agreement, saying it would be inappropriate to comment publicly before the process was finalised.
His comments come against the backdrop of growing public interest following the expiration of GPL’s agreement with Karpowership last month.
The power supply arrangement, under which the floating power generation company has been providing a significant portion of the country’s electricity generation capacity, expired on May 21.
Government officials have previously assured the public that electricity generation has not been affected and that negotiations were ongoing to secure a new agreement while maintaining an uninterrupted supply of power.
Questions have since been raised about the status of the negotiations, the terms of any new arrangement and when the public would be updated. Although Indar had indicated on Thursday that GPL would issue a statement by Friday addressing the negotiations and outlining the way forward, the power company had not done so up to Saturday evening.
It remains unclear when GPL intends to make the outcome of the negotiations public or whether the parties have since concluded discussions.
The negotiations are being closely watched as Guyana continues to rely on Karpowership’s floating power generation to supplement the national grid while longer-term electricity projects, including the Wales Gas-to-Energy Project, advance.
Any new agreement between GPL and Karpowership is expected to play an important role in maintaining the country’s electricity supply until additional generation capacity comes on stream.
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