Guyana spent US$100M for importing Heavy Fuel Oil and diesel in 2020 - LCDS Draft

Guyana spent US$100M for importing Heavy Fuel Oil and diesel in 2020 – LCDS Draft

Nov 05, 2021 News

⁃ Electricity demand to triple within 5 years

Kaieteur News – In 2020, Guyana spent US$100 million on fossil fuels imports, and the country’s electricity demand is forecasted to triple in the next five years. This is according to the Government’s draft Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
The LCDS 2030 draft was launched last Thursday by President Dr. Irfaan Ali, and after a four-month long consultation the draft was unveiled. The LCDS initiative is intended to help Guyana reduce its carbon footprint and propel this country towards carbon neutrality.
The new LCDS draft was released some 12 years after the initial one, and it highlights the government’s plan to establish incentives that promote global development.
It was stated in the LCDS draft that Guyana has some of the highest electricity rates in the Americas. It was also noted that the country is 97% dependent on imported fossil fuels.
To this end, the report highlighted that the expenditure on imported Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and Diesel for the electricity generation in the 12 public grids that are operated by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the Hinterland Electricity Company Inc. (HECI) was approximately US$100 million in 2020. The Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) is the largest grid and accounts for 78% of the total cost.
It was further noted that power demand in Guyana’s public electricity grids will triple over the next five years. “The DBIS peak power was 126 Megawatts (MW) in 2020. It is estimated that the peak load by 2025 will be 415MW. The DBIS has currently 202MW of firm capacity,” it was stated.
However, some of the aforementioned capacity is from aged generators with low reliability. It has been estimated that by 2025, 300MW of new and firm capacity will be needed to cover the demand increase, the retirement of aged generators, increased grid reliability.
Additionally, it is anticipated that using natural gas as a bridge between heavy fuel oil, along with the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project coming on stream by 2027, Guyana will see a massive expansion of renewable energy across the country. It was also stated that energy use can increase five times, from the expanded renewable sources, with greenhouse gas emissions remaining practically flat. Renewables offer the world the best opportunity for the decoupling of economic growth and fossil fuel use for energy.
According to the LCDS 2030 draft, if the electricity supply mix stays as it is today, consumer costs will not reduce significantly, while greenhouse gas emissions will triple by 2027, and increase steadily thereafter.
In the original LCDS, it was foreseen that the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project would have been complete by now, delivering cheaper, cleaner electricity. However, its development was not advanced by the previous administration. It was then stated that the current administration intends to return to a strategy of decoupling economic growth from using fossil fuels for electricity by developing low-carbon energy resources (Solar, Hydro, Wind, Biomass, and Natural Gas) to meet rapidly rising demand and keep greenhouse gas emissions low.

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