Govt. to retender for Amaila Falls project

Jan 03, 2025 News

Kaieteur News- Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday announced that the government will once again tender for a contractor to undertake the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP).

This publication understands that this is the third time since assuming office in 2020 that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration is seeking a contractor for the project.

The VP was asked for an update on the project on Thursday during his weekly press conference. He said, “So we will have to retender the project, right now the last bids we got came in a long time, we didn’t focus on it but we will have to retender that project.”

Confirming that the project will roll over in his party’s 2025 manifesto, the VP stated that his government has committed to having an energy mix for the future that is sustainable.

“What we have committed to, is an energy mix, that is sustainable and hydropower is part of that energy mix so it has to be part of our ongoing plan. So, it is a combination of gas, wind, solar and hydro that is the energy mix of the future. Clearly, we are moving to the gas which you saw will cut our emission profile, we are doing some solar we are examining wind but for smaller communities and hydro will be a part of it, so it will have to roll over as part of our commitment to a cleaner energy mix for the future as part of our energy transition so the answer is yes,” he explained.

Kaieteur News had reported last year that the government would revive the Amaila Falls project after talks fell through with the contractor, a year earlier. The government later issued a Revised Requests for Proposals (RFP) under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model for the Amaila Falls project.

Four local and international firms submitted proposals to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office for the 165 megawatts (MW) Amaila Falls project that was scheduled to begin in 2027. However, the project is currently stalled.

In September, Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo said, “…So, we’ll probably have to either engage the best of those [the four contractors that were prequalified], or ultimately probably go out back to another process…”

The Amaila Falls Hydro project was introduced by a previous PPP/C Administration in 2011. However, the project was shelved on many occasions.

The project faced obstacles in its realization when the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) Opposition parties, stopped the project back in 2014. In its 2020 election manifesto, the PPP-administration noted that the project will be revived.

In 2021, negotiations hit a stalemate after Cabinet granted a no-objection for the Prime Minister’s Office to engage the China Railway Group Limited for construction. Discussions faltered as the company sought to alter the project’s model due to financing challenges for the BOOT model, requesting a shift to an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) model. The government was reluctant to switch to the EPC option, resulting in the talks with the Chinese contractor coming to an end.

In the revised RFP, the government said generation for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc., will be largely derived in the future from two large projects including the Amaila and the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project that will come on stream by 2027 and 2025, respectively.

The power generated at the Amaila project will integrate and expand the national grid to include Linden. The Amaila-Linden-Georgetown transmission voltage will be 230 KV and connect to the national GPL Control Center at Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

(Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, retender, Amaila Falls Project, government of Guyana, seeking contractor)

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Amaila Falls Project, Government of Guyana, retender, seeking contractor, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo

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