By Vishani Ragobeer in La Jolla, San Diego
A 165 megawatts (MW) hydropower project at the Amaila Falls in Guyana’s Potaro- Siparuni region is still being pursued but the country’s Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud said a second hydropower venture is being seriously considered.
“The Government of Guyana plans to establish two hydropower projects including the Amaila Falls Hydro Project which is anticipated to provide approximately 370 MW of capacity by 2035 and an additional 150 MW of capacity by 2040,” Persaud said at the La Jolla Energy Conference in San Diego.
The Amaila Falls project was first identified in 1976 during an extensive survey of hydroelectric power potential in Guyana.
Though hydropower has been a serious pursuit for successive People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) governments, the project has not yet taken off. The current Irfaan Ali- led administration last year requested proposals for a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model but it may again look for favouable proposals, in hopes of getting hydropower in Guyana’s growing energy supply before the end of the decade.
Guyana plans mega increase in energy production
Persaud told the News Room that the government envisions the 370 MW of power coming from a second hydropower project, not the Amaila Falls venture.
This is detailed in Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, the country’s blueprint for its development. The LCDS states that the new site for this second project should be identified in 2025, with the goal of providing power by 2030.
It is unclear if the delays at the Amaila Falls project would affect the timeline for this second project.
Smaller hydropower projects are already conceptualised and being developed in Moco Moco, Kato and Kumu- three hinterland communities. Those projects will have a combined capacity of about 2.35 MW, Persaud told those gathered at the conference.
He also said that energy production in Guyana would move from just over 200 megawatts (MW) now to a whopping 3,000 MW, possibly by the end of the decade.
That increased production will come from an energy mix of hydropower, solar energy and natural gas. Solar energy projects are being developed around the country and Guyana is banking on a mega 300-megawatt (MW) gas project that will harness the natural gas produced in the prolific, oil-producing Stabroek Block offshore and generate power at about half the current cost. A second power plant of this nature is being considered too.
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