Linden sawmillers told to schedule operations to ease pressure on generators

Last Updated on Saturday, 15 August 2026, 13:25 by Writer

Sawmillers in Linden have been asked by the Guyana government to schedule their operations within a specific timeframe to ease pressure on the BOSAI Minerals’ bauxite company generators, amid rising demand largely due to the El Niño hot weather phenomenon, officials said.

Public utilities minister Deodat Indar said given the fact that the two peak electricity demand periods are 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., sawmillers have been asked to operate their equipment between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. “when people turn off their lights, the shops are closed down and demand drops.” 

He said Linden was the only area of Guyana where there is an actual shortfall in generation, as was seen Wednesday night when the peak demand reached 15.1 megawatts (MW) in contrast to the 14.1 MW capacity of the BOSAI generators.

“So we were short on generation there,” Mr Indar told a news conference, saying that was partly due to the 32 sawmills in Linden because of the low tariffs there compared to other areas of Guyana.

He said the sawmills use Wood-Mizer brand equipped with high-speed motors that use “a lot of power and that has added to the demand significantly in Linden.”

Mr Indar said the government has since asked BOSAI Minerals to add an additional 3 MW of power.

Meanwhile, he explained that Linden was attractive to the sawmill operations because there is no industrial tariff there.

Instead, he said there is a household tariff of GY$5-GY$7 per kilowatt hour and a commercial tariff of GY$12, approximately one-fifth of what consumers on the grid in Georgetown pay.

“I guess because of that incentive, a lot of the sawmillers set up in Linden so we are working with the sawmillers,” he said. 

Meanwhile, officials said there will be electricity conservation in the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) due to a spike in demand as a result of the extremely dry weather and increased demand.

The Minister Indar said the DBIS has recorded a peak demand a 242.46 megawatts (MW), compared to 221 MW last year.

Currently, there is reliable generation of 256 MW and the government hopes to push that up to 280 MW by the end of August.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips said after the 280 MW target is achieved, there would be no need for rationing.