Guyana’s flagship Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project is one of the nation’s most ambitious undertakings, designed to reduce electricity costs, cut carbon emissions and drive long-term economic growth. By redirecting natural gas from the offshore Stabroek Block to a new Natural Gas Liquid plant and a 300-megawatt power facility via a 200-kilometre subsea pipeline, the programme will help establish Guyana as an integrated energy producer. EnerMech played a pivotal role in this transition, and as Vice President of Process Services, Darrel Sookdeo explains how his team delivered the critical pre-commissioning campaign that enabled the project to move forward.
Delivering such a high-profile project required world-class expertise to ensure the infrastructure could operate safely and reliably from day one. We were entrusted with specialist pre-commissioning services across the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSOs and the gas export system - a technically intensive and logistically demanding scope that would pave the way for Guyana’s cleaner energy future. For us, the work was as much about precision and safety as it was about demonstrating long-term commitment to a politically sensitive national program.
Our scope covered dewatering, line conditioning, air drying, nitrogen packing and valve testing, supported by topsides piping construction, flange management and leak testing. To reduce environmental and mechanical risk we introduced low-pressure air-drying techniques and dust bag receivers for pigging operations. We also mobilized dedicated mobile nitrogen and high-flow air units, including one of the largest high-pressure nitrogen/air packages ever deployed in Guyana, enabling us to meet the project’s demanding technical requirements despite local infrastructure limitations. Throughout the campaign we operated our Control of Work system to provide real-time procedural oversight and maintain rigorous safety discipline.
Transporting equipment to site was a formidable task. The work was based on the west bank of the Demerara River where port facilities are limited, and a local bridge cannot carry loads above 20 tonnes. Heavy packages had to be barged across the river, offloaded at temporary landing zones and then moved along undeveloped, flood-prone tracks. Daily commuting wasn’t feasible, so we leased local accommodation and partnered with community vendors for catering and logistics. Increasing local recruitment reduced our reliance on expatriates, strengthened ties with the workforce and helped us operate more sustainably in the region.
Managing environmental and community risks was as important as the technical execution. Nitrogen venting was carried out in remote, downwind locations with physical barriers to control exposure, and we used sound blankets and silencers to mitigate noise near populated areas. We embedded a full-time wildlife specialist on site to ensure the protection of the local fauna, including more than 50 species of snakes and other wildlife. These measures supported our achievement of core KPIs: zero lost-time incidents, zero environmental events and zero instances of non-compliance.
We also had to innovate in-the-moment. Guyana’s hot, humid climate presented overheating risks for compressors, so we developed an auxiliary cooling solution that created a continuous misting loop to lower radiator temperatures. That fix reduced air-spread downtime and has since been adopted as a best practice on other EnerMech projects - a good example of how local challenges can drive improvements with long-lasting operational benefits.
This project was more than a technical delivery, it was a partnership with local communities, government stakeholders and our client to unlock a national benefit. For me, the success of the Liza Phase 1 and 2 pre-commissioning demonstrates what is possible when global expertise meets local opportunity. It shows how we can adapt, innovate and deliver with purpose, and it’s a model for how EnerMech will continue supporting Guyana’s energy journey, one project and one community at a time.