A Norwegian company, Norconsult, has been selected to review the financial model of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), the results of which would determine whether the controversial project will go ahead.
“A decision was recently made to utilize Norway’s largest consultancy firm Norconsult for this review. With over 50 years of international experience in power generation and energy supply engineering, the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet considered it the best option for an objective re-assessment,” a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said. It noted that the decision follows up on one taken by Guyana and Norway in Paris, France, in December 2015 to conduct a review of the project’s current financial model, which the government believes could shackle many generations of Guyanese to debt.
Stabroek News reported last month that while Norway had identified an international consultant to undertake the review, the Government of Guyana had requested that three nominees be submitted from which it would select one to undertake the project.
Both sides are awaiting the study on the contentious AFHP to make a definitive decision on how to proceed.
