Guyana Mega Projects Become a US-China Contest
ECONOMY · GUYANA
Key Facts
- —The country Guyana is spending its oil revenue on mega projects in power, roads and bridges. Chinese state firms and US-linked contractors are bidding against each other for the largest contracts.
- —What happened Kaieteur News reported on 3 October 2026 that Juan Pablo Segura, the senior US diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, warned that some foreign investments come with “a hidden price tag”.
- —The numbers For a gas storage facility, Lindsayca bid US$493.4 million and China CAM Engineering US$28 million, according to tender board figures Kaieteur News reported on 26 September 2026.
- —What it means for you Which bids win will shape how soon daily power cuts ease and what electricity costs. Officials target first turbine power at the delayed Wales gas plant around 4 December 2026, a date Kaieteur sources doubt.
- —Still open Whether the rival bids cover the same work, who wins the storage and Amaila hydropower contracts, and whether US financing offers carry conditions on contractor choice.
Guyana’s mega projects have become an open contest between the United States and China. A senior US diplomat has warned against Chinese state builders, and Beijing’s embassy has called such criticism a smear.
Kaieteur News, a Georgetown daily, reported the latest US warning on 3 October 2026. It comes as Guyana weighs Chinese and US-linked bids for a gas facility and a hydropower dam.
A warning about a hidden price tag
Juan Pablo Segura is the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, the State Department’s top official for the region. In a post on X, reposted by the US Embassy, he wrote that some foreign investments hide their true cost.
“Lower upfront costs mask higher lifecycle expenses and long-term risk,” he wrote, according to Kaieteur News. Without naming China, he linked “state-owned companies” to unsustainable debt, shoddy workmanship, corruption and delays.
Kaieteur did not date the post, and its wording could not be confirmed. In late August, Segura had singled out a Chinese-built airport project in Guyana for years of delays and cost overruns.
Two bids, one wide gap
The sharpest numbers come from a gas storage tender at Wales, west of Georgetown. It would serve the gas-to-energy plant being built there.
Lindsayca, the contractor building that plant, submitted two bids: US$537.1 million and US$493.4 million. Kaieteur News reported the figures on 26 September, citing the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), the state tender board.
China CAM Engineering offered US$28 million, about 6 percent of Lindsayca’s lower bid. Whether the three offers cover the same scope of work has not been published.
Citing unnamed sources, Kaieteur News also reported that the tender’s short deadline favoured the incumbent. That claim is not confirmed, and no award has been reported.
A delayed US-financed plant and a Chinese-built bridge
Lindsayca won the US$759 million contract for the Wales plant in 2022, with first power promised for the end of 2024. After a US$97 million settlement, the first turbine now targets about 4 December 2026, as reported in Guyana Gas-to-Energy Plant Aims to Fire First Turbine Around 4 December, Adding 57 MW of 300 MW. Kaieteur sources say test firing may slip to January 2027.
The US Export-Import Bank (EXIM), Washington’s export credit agency, approved a US$527 million loan for that plant. On 22 September, Kaieteur News quoted a US official saying EXIM could lend up to US$550 million for a second phase.
The newspaper contrasts it with the new Demerara River Bridge, built and financed by China Railway Construction Corporation. It says the bridge came about three months late, at no added cost.
Beijing pushes back as Georgetown weighs its options
On 1 September the Chinese Embassy in Guyana called Segura’s earlier remarks “malicious smears” against normal trade ties, Kaieteur News and News Source Guyana reported. It cited the bridge and six regional hospitals as Chinese contributions.
The next test is the Amaila Falls hydropower project, a dam of at least 165 megawatts first proposed in 2011. Five bids were opened on 8 May: three Chinese, one from a US-led group and one from an Indian-led venture.
Sinohydro offered the lowest disclosed price at US$416.9 million, while the US-led group with GE Vernova bid US$800.1 million, Kaieteur News reported. President Irfaan Ali said in late September that the bids are under evaluation.
Ali said the winner must accept terms that “make economic sense”. Smaller Caribbean states face the same pull, as shown in Antigua and Barbuda Won’t Pick China or US, Says Browne.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is not known whether the gas storage bids are comparable in scope, or when the tender board will award that contract. The exact date of Segura’s latest post is also unclear.
The government has not said whether US financing offers depend on choosing US-linked contractors. For now, Guyana still awards major work to both Chinese and US-linked firms.
Sources: Kaieteur News, 3 October 2026, 26 September 2026 (NPTAB bid figures), 27 September 2026, 22 September 2026, 1 September 2026 and 9 May 2026; News Source Guyana, 1 September 2026.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief