Suriname is facing a rapidly expanding electricity demand that outpaces earlier projections, particularly across its EPAR grid which supplies over 80% of the nation’s total power consumption. With positive economic outlooks and projected industrial expansion on the horizon, energy officials and independent experts warn that both peak power demand and total annual energy consumption will continue to climb steadily in the coming decades. Recent recurring power deficits and inadequate reserve capacity have already forced widespread rolling blackouts across the country, making it clear that urgent investment in new power generation capacity can no longer be delayed.
In response to this pressing national energy challenge, a team of senior energy specialists with deep expertise in Suriname’s unique energy landscape has developed an initial conceptual proposal for a phased construction of a modern power facility, planned for the former Bruynzeel site in Beekhuizen. The plan retains full flexibility: if further feasibility assessments covering spatial integration, environmental impact, logistics, flood risk and grid connection rule out the Beekhuizen location, the same modular design can be deployed at an alternative site across the country.
At the core of the proposal is a system of modular RICE (Residual Oil Diesel Engine) generation units, each with an output capacity of roughly 20 megawatts (MW). The modular design allows the plant to be expanded incrementally in line with growing demand, with a maximum potential total capacity of up to 300MW. Final determination of the optimal total capacity, balanced for both technical and economic performance, will be completed following a detailed demand forecast and full feasibility study. Critically, the plan also allows for future conversion of the plant’s engines from liquid fuel to domestically sourced natural gas, pending further research into gas availability, composition, supply security and the development of required pipeline infrastructure.
The proposed plant will be connected to a new high-voltage substation equipped with custom transformers and switching equipment. Final voltage level selection, with options including 161 kV, 110 kV, 33 kV and 12 kV, will be determined based on detailed load flow, short circuit, grid stability and reliability analyses, aligned with long-term planned upgrades to the EPAR grid.
The project also incorporates a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) linked directly to the plant, designed to enable rapid frequency regulation, absorb sudden power fluctuations, provide backup support during generation unit outages, and speed up grid restoration after disruptions. The BESS system will reduce the need for costly spinning reserve capacity from the RICE units, allowing the generation facilities to operate at far higher efficiency. A separate systems analysis will finalize the required power output and storage capacity for the BESS, which will also be able to support future large-scale solar photovoltaic generation by smoothing out rapid fluctuations in solar power output. For liquid fuel supply under the initial design, transportation via the Suriname River is planned.
Preliminary cost estimates for the first phase of construction sit at approximately $150 million USD. Project planners emphasize that this is an initial conceptual figure, which will be refined and validated during the feasibility study and detailed engineering phases. Future expansion phases will be implemented incrementally, aligned with actual demand growth and evolution of Suriname’s national energy system.
To account for uncertainty around future demand growth, the expert team modeled four distinct demand growth scenarios for the EPAR grid between 2025 and 2040, starting from a 2025 baseline peak demand of 285 MW. Under a 2% annual growth scenario, peak demand would reach 384 MW by 2040, while a 7% annual growth rate would push peak demand to 786 MW. The base case 3% annual growth scenario projects peak demand of 444 MW by 2040, while a 5% growth scenario puts 2040 peak demand at 592 MW. The proposed incremental expansion to 300 MW of total capacity aligns particularly well with the 5% growth scenario, which sees peak demand rise by roughly 307 MW between 2025 and 2040.
Planners note that final required generation capacity will depend on more factors than just peak demand growth alone: planners must also account for existing capacity deficits, required reserve margins, scheduled maintenance, unplanned outages, retirement of older generation units, variable output from renewable energy, other planned energy projects, and the capacity contribution from the BESS system. A comprehensive integrated system and feasibility study will be required to finalize the project’s exact scale and construction timeline.
The proposal calls for NV EBS, the operator of the EPAR grid, to take the lead on advancing the concept to the next phase of development. It urges EBS’s executive board and supervisory board, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Finance and Planning, and the Office of the President to prioritize this initiative as a critical national infrastructure project. The conceptual plan was developed by Samuel Mehairjan MSc, an electrical power engineering expert with 38 years of experience in the power sector, and Priyel Tedjoe MSc, a power systems specialist with international experience in power system and high-voltage substation development, and is being presented to stakeholders for further development.