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RFP to be issued soon for Amaila Falls Hydro project
Kaieteur News – Vice President (VP) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday revealed that soon the Government of Guyana (GoG) will be issuing Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 165 Mega Watt (MW) Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project, which had been shelved on many occasions.
Vice President (VP), Bharrat Jagdeo
This announcement by the Vice President comes more than a year after he revealed that the Chinese contractor, China Railway First Group, was unable to secure finances for project.
The Amaila Falls project has been met with many snafus since its introduction some two decades ago.
At one of his June 2023 press conferences, Jagdeo had revealed that at least two Brazilian companies are interested in bidding to construct the much-anticipated project.
Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project
On Thursday, the Vice President was asked for an update on the project. He said, “So we have had several proposals directly from companies and it is our determination that again when you have multiple unsolicited proposals, the best way to move forward is to have a Request for Proposals (RFP) an open process.”
As such, he added that the best way to move forward is to issue a RPF to have an open process. He continued, “So most likely you will see us reengage the public through an ad to get these proposals and then they can all be adjudicated side by side, against each other to see which is the best deal.”
Last year, China Railway had secured a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate Transfer) contract with the government. However, the company later wrote to the government expressing that it was having a hard time raising finance for the BOOT agreement and requested to change it to an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract. However, the government disagreed and the project was parked.
Under the BOOT arrangement, the company had to build, own and Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) will purchase power from the operator under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and then 20 years after transfer it to the government for free. On the other hand, the EPC contract, it would mean that the government would have to secure the finances for the project and that they would be used as the EPC contractor.
It should be noted that under the most recent iteration of the project as presented, Guyana was to stand the majority of the major risks involved in the project. These include those related to political force majeure, payments risks in the event that electricity sold is not sufficient to meet the PPA demands and hydrology where Guyana stands the risk associated with the likelihood of there being insufficient water supply, meaning if the Amaila Falls runs dry, among other risks.
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