Minister Deodat Indar said late Monday night. Mr Indar said the entire project, which includes the Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant, is 68 percent complete. Phase one of the US$759 million project that covers the combined cycle power plant and the NGL facilities.

He said the United States-headquartered LINDSAYCA would be pouring the second concrete foundation on September 22 and at 7—10 day intervals, the pour will be executed for the third and fourth foundation. “The foundation works are necessary to support the power plant’s steam and gas turbines that make up the combined cycle,” he said in a statement.  He also said the contractor has set a 120-day deadline to complete all foundation works for the turbines. The Public Utilities Minister explained that each of the four gas turbines has a capacity of 57 megawatts and the capacity of the two steam turbines will produce a total capacity of 300 megawatts. Government has repeatedly promised that the cost of electricity would be reduced by 50 percent when the project is completed in 2026. Government had previously told the National Assembly that the project would be finished around April- June, 2026. President Irfaan Ali recently announced that 100 additional persons would be hired to fast-track construction of the project.

Meanwhile, the Public Utilities and Aviation Minister told Demerara Waves Online News moments after he was sworn in that government decided to streamline the ministerial responsibilities of water, telecommunications, electricity and aviation under one ministry in the quest to improve the quality of services at the level of the ordinary people. “It’s really a strategic move to put all of these critical service providers under one umbrella so that they can be managed properly in a way that people can feel the improvement of the services,” he said. (Demerara Waves)