GTE Two, fertilizer plant key to lowering electricity costs and easing cost of living -PM Phillips
Prime Minister Mark Phillips has signalled that the government’s gas-to-energy agenda is being expanded beyond electricity generation, with a second gas-to-energy project and a fertilizer plant positioned as key tools to ease pressure on the cost of living and support long-term economic growth.
Speaking on the Starting Point podcast on Sunday, hosted by Kiana Wilburg and Fareeza Haniff, Phillips said while the first phase of the gas-to-energy project is expected to come on stream later this year, planning is already underway for a second phase to meet Guyana’s rapidly growing energy demand.
“In order to talk about the second phase, you have to start with the first phase,” the Prime Minister said. “The first phase, we promise to deliver 300 megawatts of additional power to the people of Guyana, more particularly in the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System.”
Phillips pointed to what he described as “tremendous growth” over the past five years, including new housing schemes, hospitals, hotels, schools and road infrastructure, all of which require reliable electricity.
“Everything building out and everything needs energy,” he said, noting that the increase in demand forced the government to implement short-term measures, including the acquisition of power ships, while advancing longer-term solutions.
The Prime Minister explained that the first gas-to-energy project represents mid- to long-term planning, with 300 megawatts expected to meet current and near-future needs. However, he said projections show demand continuing to rise.
“For example, the president talked about 40,000 houses over the next five years. There’s 40,000 houses demanding additional electricity,” Phillips said, adding that the steady opening of hotels, expansion of agro-processing, supermarkets, restaurants and cafes, along with new schools and health facilities, will further drive consumption.
Against that backdrop, Phillips said the government has decided to move ahead with a second gas-to-energy project.
“So we have looked at that and we decided that right on the heels of the gas energy one, we must have gas energy two, which basically is another 300 megawatts of power that we intend to have in place by 2030 to satisfy the growing demand for electricity in Guyana,” he said.
Beyond electricity generation, Phillips said the gas-to-energy programme also opens the door to lower energy costs and downstream industries, including gas bottling and fertilizer production.
He reiterated the government’s commitment that the project will reduce electricity costs. “We promise 50% reduction in whatever you’re paying for electricity right now,” he said.
On the proposed gas bottling facility, Phillips said once operational, Guyana will be able to produce and distribute gas locally at a much lower cost. “It means that we’ll be producing and bottling gas and distributing to the people of Guyana at a far lower cost than they’re paying for right now,” he said, adding that Guyana could also export gas to the wider Caribbean.
The Prime Minister also underscored the importance of the proposed fertilizer plant, particularly for agriculture, which he described as the country’s long-standing economic backbone.
“Guyana remains an agriculture-based country. Even though we have oil and gas as the new frontier, agriculture is the mainstay of our economy,” Phillips said. “It has been so for over a hundred years, and it’s going to be like that for the next hundred years.”
He noted that fertilizer remains a major cost for farmers, forcing the government to intervene through purchases and distribution to cushion the impact. Local fertilizer production, he said, would significantly change that dynamic.
“Once we could reach to the stage of manufacturing our own fertilizer, producing our own fertilizer in Guyana, that will have a positive impact on agriculture, on our farmers,” Phillips said.
He linked the fertilizer project directly to food prices and the cost of living, explaining that lowering production costs in agriculture would have a ripple effect.
“If you cushion the effect in terms of the cost of production in the farming sector, it will also have an effect in terms of the food that goes on our table, the price that we pay for food,” he said.
Phillips acknowledged ongoing concerns about rising living costs, but said the government has already taken steps to soften the impact. “Every country in the world has cost of living increases over time. What we have done as a government, we’ve implemented measures to cushion that cost of living rise in Guyana,” he said.
He added that a fertilizer plant coming on stream in the coming years would further strengthen those efforts, ensuring cheaper inputs for farmers and creating export opportunities for the region.
