Expressions of interest (EOI) have been invited for the repair of the Chinese-built Moco Moco hydropower plant in Region Nine which was severely damaged by a rockslide in 2003.
It is the clearest sign yet that the Granger administration is intent on resuscitating the plant after the former PPP/C government balked at the various proposals which had been put up.
A notice in today’s Stabroek News from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure said EOI were being sought consistent with the government’s plan for a `green’ economy. The government is seeking competitive proposals for the rehabilitation and operation of the Moco Moco plant under a Build, Own, Operate, Transfer structure to supply power to the Lethem Power Company Grid under an agreed power purchase agreement.
Application information can be downloaded from www.electricity.gov.gy Submissions have to be made on or before 4 pm on Thursday, March 31, 2016 to the attention of Dr Mahender Sharma, Guyana Energy Agency, 295 Quamina Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown.
The request for EOIs come after the government identified Moco Moco, Kato and Tumatumari as priority sites for small hydropower systems.
“Guyana will seek to construct and/or promote the construction of small hydro systems at suitable locations across the country. Government also plans to construct and/or promote the construction of small hydro systems in areas such as Moco Moco, Kato and Tumatumari, and will power all of the new townships, starting with Bartica, using alternative energy sources,” government said in its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) which was submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Both Moco Moco and Tumatumari have hydro-power plants but the one at Moco Moco was damaged by a landslide in 2003 and never fixed. It has since been severely vandalized.
In February 2014, then Prime Minister Sam Hinds in a letter to this newspaper had said that none of the options to rehabilitate the plant were attractive.
In the letter, Hinds said that three possible solutions were considered after the landslide (i) just restore the piping (penstocks) $60-70 million; (ii) add some degree of ground engineering which would reduce the likelihood of another landslide to some extent but would increase the cost to $100 to $200 million; (iii) a total rebuild including relocation estimated at $500 to $700 million. None of these was attractive.
In 2010, the PM, who is the minister responsible for the electricity sector, had said that the plant would be operational within a year. He had said that a company would be repairing the power station and pipelines that were damaged in the landslide. This plan subsequently fell through.
The lack of adequate geotechnical studies was cited as one of the failures of the Moco-Moco hydro project.
