The government yesterday sealed a deal for 33 mega-watts (MW) of solar power financed by US$83.3m of funds from Norway which derived from a ground-breaking forest protection accord signed between Georgetown and Oslo in 2009.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh signed the pact with the Inter-American Develop-ment Bank (IDB) which serves as the intermediary. A release from the Minis-try of Finance said that the Guyana Utility Scale Solar Photovoltaic Programme (GUYSOL) paves the way for investments in eight utility scale photovoltaic solar projects totalling 33 MW to bring affordable and clean energy to targeted communities in Guy-ana. Signing the Agree-ment on behalf of the IDB was its Resident Repre-sentative (ag) Lorena Solorzano-Salazar.
Thirty-three MWs of solar power represents the largest pivot yet by Guyana in the direction of clean, renewable energy. The US$83.3m had been originally earmarked for the PPP/C’s controversial Amaila Falls Hydropower Project but the former APNU+AFC administration later struck an accord with Norway for the money to be assigned to solar power.
The ministry release said that investments will be made in solar photovoltaic plants as follows:
a) 10 MWp of generation capacity connected to the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) in the Berbice Area
b) 8 MWp in the Essequibo Coast Isolated System, including a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with a minimum capacity of 12 MWh; and
c) 15 MWp connected to the Linden Isolated Sys-tem, inclusive of a BESS with a minimum capacity of 22 MWh.
Each facility will be connected to the 13.8 kV primary distribution network in the respective areas. The release said that the programme will provide 27,000 households with affordable, clean energy and is expected to benefit over 70, 000 households.
The release pointed out that the US$83.3 Million being used for this programme is part of the US$220.8 million earned by Guyana for forest climate services through its partnership with Norway during the previous People’s Progressive Party/ Civic’s (PPP/C’s) term in office. The other earnings from the project have since been invested in a range of areas including the Micro and Small Enterprise Development project; Amerindian Land Titling, The Amerindian Develop-ment Fund, the Cunha Canal Adaptation, Sustain-able Land Development, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification; and ICT Access and e-Services for Hinterland, Poor and Remote Communities.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips said that once implemented the programme will benefit thousands of persons in the country including women in rural areas. He also reminded that it will assist the Guyana Power and Light in decreasing fossil fuel use and moving to a greater use of renewable energy.
“So it is a transformative project for Guyana. We are thankful that the IDB has been working side by side with Guyana to utilize this money that was lying in an account for over six years and we are thankful for them bringing us to the stage at which we are,” the Prime Minister added.
Prior to signing the Agreement, the release said that Singh reflected on the history of the Low Carbon Development Strategy through which the finance for the project was secured.
“This allocation of over eighty million US dollars has its roots in the original Low Carbon Development Strategy and the Guyana REDD Plus investment Fund which was established under the original LCDS, and at the time these resources were set aside to invest in renewable energy with the IDB as the implementing partner entity. This amount was in fact intended originally as Government’s contribution to the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project. We had at that time a major investor, the Blackstone Group who was willing to do the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project, but political events intervened as a result of which that project was stalled and ultimately derailed and for more than five years, these resources ended up being parked in the IDB,” Singh said.
In her brief remarks prior to signing, the IDB’s Resident Representative (ag) Solorzano-Salazar said, “This operation is framed within the partnership that Guyana had with Norway and will especially take the country to 19 percent renewables of the grid within about three years so this is an important milestone. This is in line with a kind of transformative change that is fully aligned with the IDB Vision 2025 and positive impacts of renewables ….and augurs well for Guyana.”
The release said that the objective of the programme is to support the diversification of Guyana’s energy matrix towards the use of cleaner and renewable energy sources in the electricity generation matrix. The programme seeks especially to (i) avoid CO 2 emissions with the development of solar PV generation plants and (ii) lower the cost of electricity generation while supporting the country’s transition towards renewable energy-based generation; and (iii) improve the operation and reliability of the isolated systems of Essequibo and Linden.
