Guyana’s energy sector is entering a period of significant transformation. New generation capacity, transmission infrastructure, renewable-energy systems and the Gas-to-Energy Project are reshaping the country’s electricity landscape at the same time that the wider economy is becoming increasingly dependent on digital technology.
This transformation creates tremendous opportunities for greater reliability, efficiency and economic growth. It also means that cybersecurity must become an integral part of energy security.
Modern energy infrastructure is no longer made up only of turbines, transmission lines, substations and pipelines. Digital control systems, telecommunications networks, sensors, software and automated equipment increasingly help operators monitor and manage critical infrastructure. Protecting those digital systems is therefore essential to protecting the physical energy assets on which households, businesses and public services depend.
A Growing Energy System
Guyana is substantially expanding its electricity infrastructure. In September 2026, the Government reported continued progress on the Gas-to-Energy Project at Wales, including work on gas turbines, a steam turbine, storage tanks, piping and the supporting substation. The current implementation schedule provides for the first gas turbine to deliver approximately 57 megawatts to the national grid by the end of 2026.
The country’s transmission network is also being expanded. More than 70 kilometres of new high-voltage transmission infrastructure associated with the Gas-to-Energy development is being constructed to strengthen the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System. This includes a 230-kilovolt transmission corridor between Wales and Goedverwagting that will carry electricity generated at Wales into the national grid.
At the same time, electricity demand continues to rise. Guyana Power and Light reported in September 2026 that peak demand had increased from approximately 221 megawatts in the previous year to around 257 megawatts, while its customer base had grown from approximately 201,000 in 2020 to about 250,000. GPL also reported approximately US$800 million in ongoing projects involving substations, transmission upgrades and hundreds of kilometres of additional distribution infrastructure.
As Guyana’s electricity system becomes larger and more sophisticated, the number of systems that must be securely managed also grows.
The Digital Side of Energy Security
Electricity utilities increasingly depend on industrial control systems, including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, or SCADA, technology. These systems allow operators to supervise equipment and processes, collect information and respond to changing conditions across electricity networks.
GPL itself recognises this responsibility. Its published responsibilities for system control and operations include monitoring the cybersecurity of SCADA and substation-monitoring systems as well as overseeing telecommunications, electronic systems and fibre-optic infrastructure.
The benefits of digitalisation are substantial, but so are the potential vulnerabilities.
The International Energy Agency warns that growing connectivity, automation and digitalisation are expanding the potential cyberattack surface of electricity systems. A successful attack could interfere with devices or industrial processes and, in serious circumstances, contribute to physical damage or widespread disruption of services.
The threat is also evolving rapidly. According to the IEA, the typical energy utility faced more than 1,500 attempted cyberattacks per week in 2024, approximately three times the level recorded four years earlier.
For Guyana, these international trends provide an important warning. The issue is not whether every cyberattack will cause a blackout or damage infrastructure. Rather, energy operators must assume that attempts to compromise networks, steal information, exploit software weaknesses or disrupt operations will continue to occur internationally and prepare their systems accordingly.
From Information Technology to Operational Technology
Energy-sector cybersecurity has an additional challenge: protecting operational technology.
Traditional information-technology cybersecurity is generally concerned with computers, networks, databases and information. Operational technology controls or monitors physical equipment and industrial processes.
That distinction matters. Compromising an office computer may result in stolen information or interrupted business operations. Compromising inadequately protected industrial systems could potentially affect equipment used to operate an electricity network.
Recent advisories from the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency demonstrate that vulnerabilities continue to be identified in products used within industrial and energy environments. CISA has advised operators to isolate control-system networks from business networks where appropriate, secure remote access, maintain updated systems and apply defence-in-depth measures.
Energy companies must therefore treat cybersecurity as an operational risk, rather than solely as an information-technology responsibility.
Guyana Is Strengthening Its Cybersecurity Framework
Guyana has already taken several steps towards strengthening national cybersecurity.
The Cyber Crime Act 2018 established Guyana’s legislative framework for a range of computer-related offences. The Act was passed on July 20, 2018 and subsequently published in August of that year.
In April 2024, the National Data Management Authority unveiled 43 policies under the Government’s National Cybersecurity Policy Framework. According to the Government, the framework was designed to establish a structured approach to cybersecurity risk management, define responsibilities and strengthen mechanisms for responding to cyber incidents.
More recently, Guyana became the 19th participating country in the Latin America and Caribbean Cyber Competence Centre, or LAC4, in June 2026. Membership gives Guyana access to cybersecurity training, digital-forensics resources, a cyber range for practical exercises and regional cooperation in cybersecurity policy and capacity building.
These developments are particularly important as critical sectors become increasingly digitalised.
Building Cyber Resilience into Energy Development
Protecting Guyana’s energy infrastructure will require more than firewalls or antivirus software. Cybersecurity must be incorporated throughout the lifecycle of major energy assets.
For utilities and energy companies, this means maintaining accurate inventories of connected equipment, separating critical operational networks from ordinary corporate systems where appropriate, controlling remote access, regularly patching vulnerabilities when it is safe to do so and maintaining secure backups.
Strong authentication and strict access controls are also essential. Employees and contractors should receive continuing cybersecurity training because phishing, stolen credentials and other human vulnerabilities can provide attackers with pathways into otherwise well-protected organisations.
Third-party suppliers also matter. Modern power systems rely on technology vendors, contractors, telecommunications providers and specialised equipment manufacturers. Cybersecurity standards should therefore form part of procurement, contracting and supply-chain risk management.
Incident-response planning is equally important. The objective cannot be to assume that every cyberattack can be prevented. The IEA emphasises cyber resilience: the ability of electricity systems to withstand disruption, adapt and recover quickly while preserving critical operations.
Regular exercises involving utilities, government agencies and other critical-infrastructure operators can help ensure that responsibilities are understood before a serious incident occurs.
Cybersecurity Is Now Energy Security
Guyana’s rapidly developing energy sector will play a central role in the country’s long-term economic transformation. The infrastructure being constructed today is expected to serve households, industry and essential public services for decades.
Protecting that infrastructure therefore requires thinking beyond its physical components.
As generation plants, substations, transmission systems and renewable-energy technologies become increasingly interconnected, digital security and physical energy security can no longer be treated separately.
Guyana has already begun strengthening its national cybersecurity framework and expanding regional cooperation. The next challenge is ensuring that cybersecurity remains embedded in the design, operation and expansion of the country’s critical energy infrastructure.
The country’s energy transformation is about producing and delivering more reliable electricity. In an increasingly digital world, ensuring that those systems are secure, resilient and capable of recovering from cyber threats must be part of that transformation as well.
