Berbice hotel remains in limbo over wind turbine

Jul 18, 2019 News

A Berbice hotel says it is continuing to be held in limbo over approvals for a wind turbine that would be used for electricity.

The wind turbine in question, already erected at Skeldon, Berbice.

Officials of the Classic International Hotel and Suites disclosed, yesterday, it has submitted a project documents, and even had personnel of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) visiting with follow-up phone calls.
“All we can say is that we followed this government’s call for green energy. We made an investment in a wind turbine. We invested in a hotel that meets international standards and we remain at square one,” a senior official said yesterday.
The hotel is owned by the Sugrim family which has also been involved in the heavy equipment business.
“We had site visits that included engineers at Skeldon, Berbice. We spoke to several officials from GPL’s Projects Department. We have made calls and sent correspondences. There has been no feedback.”
The turbine was imported last year for use by Classic International Hotel, Corriverton, Berbice.
The hotel, in a statement earlier this year complained that although erected and ready to go, authorities have not given permission, despite several meetings and correspondence.
The turbine has been placed in Skeldon, a few miles from the hotel, which was open with much fanfare last year.
Management indicated that they are frustrated. They said that the investment was made in response to the Government’s calls for alternative energy and for the greening of the country’s economy.
The frustration had forced the hotel management to say it is contemplating taking down the turbine and shipping it back to India.
Classic Hotel had offered to give some of the power to the Demerara and Berbice grid and in return, receive the credit for what is used.
Earlier this year also, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, had said that the matter is more than what meets the eye.
“The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MOPI), and by extension the Government of Guyana (GoG), applauds the proprietor of Classic International Hotel, Mr. Shamnarine Narine, for his supposed interest in pushing for a “Green State” and in contributing to the national grid,” the Minister said in a statement.
“However, it is disappointing to read Mr. Narine’s claim of non-responsive on the part of the GoG (Government of Guyana) when several correspondence from different agencies within MPI were sent to him.”
Patterson said he had met with Narine in the past concerning this matter.
In April 2017, the Ministry and its energy-related agencies were “surprised” to read reports in the media of the launch of Mr. Narine’s hotel and wind turbine.
The Minister said that on October 17, 2017, Narine briefed him via a letter on his 300 kW wind turbine, which would become operational at the end of the said month.
“In this correspondence, Mr. Narine shared that only 50 kW of the generation capacity was required by the hotel and, as a result, he would be willing to offer the excess 250 kW to the national grid.”
Patterson said that Narine was advised that it was not possible at this time for an individual to connect to the grid unless the supply met the minimum of 1.5 MW.
“He was further advised that GPL was limited due to ongoing development of a policy, and legal and technical frameworks to permit and guide supply that is less than 1.5 MW and the sensitive technical issues affecting any supply of power of an intermittent nature (such as wind or solar) to the grid.”
However, the Minister said, despite this, it was agreed to examine Narine’s proposal with GPL with the objective of identifying and addressing the technical issues while the framework for intermittent power supply below 1.5 MW to the grid was being developed.
Patterson had also noted that while the public may be anxious to seize the opportunity of solar and wind energy and to connect to the grid to save on the cost of energy storage, the complexity of utility size generation, transmission, and distribution of power – a complexity which is further compounded by the weaknesses of GPL’s grid and the sensitivity of intermittent supply – requires judicious adherence to feasibility studies and grid interconnection processes, which are typically detailed and costly, but which are necessary to ensure reliable and stable supply of electricity and the safety of the grid.
“Furthermore, the Government of Guyana commends all private citizens and business owners who are willing to move towards the use of renewable energy. However, we wish to urge those who are interested in supplying power to GPL’s grid to first check with GPL to determine whether policies and technical and legal frameworks exist to accommodate such requests.”