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Amaila Falls runs dry
The Amaila Falls which was intended to supply the nation with 165 megawatts of electricity and save Guyana millions of US dollars is bone dry.
An overhead view of the dried out Amaila Falls
Yesterday, Works Minister Robeson Benn said that it is not unusual for waterfalls used to provide hydroelectricity to run dry. He pointed to power stations in Suriname and in Brazil.
He said that when the contractors would have built a dam that would have stored water to smoothen the flow regime. The dam would have given rise to a reservoir which would have been used to regulate the flow of water for the hydro.
Minister Benn also explained that in times of heavy rainfall, the excess water would have been released through gates. He insisted that had there been a dam, the extent of dryness at this time would not have been as severe.
The hydroelectric facility was being constructed at a whopping US860 million. This dry spell revealed that Guyana could not have depended on the hydro for a continuous supply of power.
Minister Benn said that the engines currently in use by Guyana Power and Light would have been kept to provide a back up. The smaller engines would have been distributed to places like Mahdia and Port Kaituma and some Berbice locations
A photograph provided by GINA of Amaila Falls with a bountiful supply of water in March Last year
where electricity is generated for no more than four hours a day.
But if indeed that were to be the case then whenever the falls runs dry the nation would have experienced severe power outages.
Amaila would certainly not have been worth the money spent to build it.
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