Seven hundred residents of Mabaruma will by August have seventeen hours of reliable electricity daily with the completion of Guyana’s first ever solar farm.
The Department of Public Information (DPI) said that the $264m farm in Region One will cover ten acres on Khan’s Hill and will provide power to Mabaruma and down to the Wanina area.
DPI said that currently, the Mabaruma Power Company provides only eight hours of electricity per day. The project is close to completion pending the arrival of some overseas materials, Mabaruma Mayor Henry Smith in a visit to the area told reporters on Friday.
“The lines are already being laid, it’s just to bring in the other input then we connect up, giving us an additional nine hours of current. This added to the eight hours that we have right now will give us 17 hours, out of 24 every day. We hope that by the end of August, it should be up and running.”
DPI said that the mayor was at a part of a team of officials which included the Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock and Ministerial Advisor, Mervyn Williams who visited the site.
The project, which began in 2017 is being executed by German company Meeco in three phases. The first phase saw the extension of the distribution network from its endpoint to a new location in Khan’s Hill; the second stage catered for site preparation and construction of the fence; and the third involves the construction of the solar farm.
