Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Govt. confirms Amaila Hydro Project will not power Essequibo
– says Berbice will benefit through link to Demerara system
Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Finance, by way of a public statement on Saturday, confirmed that any power to be generated at the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Plant will not initially supply residents of Essequibo.
Additionally, the Finance Ministry said its master plan for the electricity sector includes linking isolated Essequibo systems with the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System by 2026.
The Ministry was at the time responding to a “banner carried on the front page of Kaieteur News on Saturday, which indicated that the Amaila Falls power plant will not supply electricity to Essequibo and Berbice.
According to the Ministry, Amaila will supply electricity through Sophia to the national grid for distribution and this will include Berbice which is already connected through the DBIS.
The Ministry said too that even in advance of Amaila, the government is already working to deliver approximately 10 megawatts of peak solar power to be delivered directly to Regions 5 and 6.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President, with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh
The resuscitated Amaila Falls Project was handed to China Railway First Group in November last, said at a cost of US$700M. Senior Minister in the Office of the President, with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, during his budget presentation for this year announced that the Chinese contractor, who was granted approval to construct the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, will commence operations on the mega venture this year.
Dr. Singh had told the National Assembly at the time, “regarding renewable and low carbon energy, our most promising venture continues to be the AFHP (Amaila Falls Hydropower Project) with an expected capacity of 165 MW”.
He informed that government has already requested, received and evaluated proposals for the project and negotiations are in progress with the ‘highest ranked company’ China Railway First Group (CRFG) – the same company that had previously signed a contract to build the said project several years ago.
During the recently concluded Energy Conference and Expo, project head Winston Brassington had outlined that “Like any large project, there is a lot of risk in these projects but most of these risks have been put to the developer,” adding that they include the construction cost with all the “usual checks and balances”, geotechnical risks, hydrology risks, and force majeure risks.
He told the Conference Guyana that the 165 megawatt station itself would cost U$500 million but the government would not be paying for the facility. Under the Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model, the company China Rail, would be selling power to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) at 7.7 US cents per kilowatt hour—a price still to be finalized as part of a Power Purchase Agreement . “This cost is largely the repayment of financing,” he said.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
A call for more cultural centres
…Peeping Tom Kaieteur News- Burnham’s decision to divert the Indian Immigration Fund towards constructing the National... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
