Govt silent on possible blackouts, as Karpower warns of “interruption”

Last Updated on Sunday, 31 May 2026, 13:25 by Denis Chabrol

Top officials of the Guyana government were on Sunday mum on whether an agreement was reached for two power-ships to continue supplying Guyana Power and Light and so avert widespread blackouts for hours.

Efforts to secure an update from President Irfaan Ali, Public Utilities Minister, Deodat Indar, and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo proved futile as they did not respond to calls or messages. Director-General of the Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation, Alfonso de Armas, when contacted, deferred enquiries to Mr Indar who was on a presidential-led outreach to Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

They were asked what was being done to avert blackouts , given the fact that Karpowership has said it would switch off operations if there is no new agreement before June 1, 2026. Those top policymakers also did not say whether GPL and Power Producers and Distributors Inc have sufficient capacity if one or both of the power-ships are switched off if there is no new contract.

Karpowership on May 25, 2026 told  Public Utilities Minister, Deodat Indar in a correspondence that was copied to GPL’s Executive Team Leader, Kesh Nandlall that operations could be affected if there is no deal before June 1.

“Nevertheless, in the interest of operational continuity, we are prepared to grant a final extension until 1 June 2026,” Karpowership said in the letter posted by the privately-owned Kaieteur News newspaper

That company last Monday asked that the negotiations and approval process be expedited between then and May 31 in order to finalize and execute the new term agreement without further delay. Karpowership reminded the Public Utilities Minister that alignment and unification of the commercial terms and pricing structure across all country operations remain essential requirements for the continuation of the arrangement.

“We trust the remaining matters can now be concluded promptly to avoid any interruption to operations,” Karpowership said.

Karpowership’s vessel moored at Meadow Bank, Demerara River supplies 60 megawatts of electricity to the grid and its other vessel at Everton, Berbice River injects 36 megawatts, while the remainder of the more than 220 megawatts peak demand comes from generators owned by GPL and Power Producers and Distributors Inc (PPDI).

The long-delayed Wales Gas-to-Energy power plant is not expected generate some of its 300 megawatts of electricity before late 2026.