450kW wind turbine farm being developed at Leguan – PM

As part of Guyana’s transition to renewable energy, Prime Minister Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips has stated that a 450-kilowatt (kW) wind turbine farm will be developed at Leguan to meet the Essequibo River island’s growing power demand in a sustainable manner.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister made a presentation on Day Three of the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo, during which he spoke about the country’s renewable energy endeavours.
He disclosed that several utility-scale solar power projects, amounting to some 34.5 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity, are being developed in communities along the coastland. Among those areas is the island of Leguan in the Essequibo River, which will not only benefit from a mini solar grid this year but also a wind farm.
“The Leguan 0.6-megawatt solar farm, to be commissioned in 2025, will generate approximately 800 megawatt hours of renewable energy annually, and be complemented by a 450-kilowatt wind turbine farm, ensuring 70 per cent of the island’s power demand is met sustainably,” PM Phillips noted.
The development of this 450-kilowatt peak wind farm at Leguan was announced by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh during his 2025 Budget presentation in January, as one of the renewable energy initiatives to be undertaken this year as part of plans to diversify the country’s energy sources. The wind farm at Leguan is expected to generate approximately 620 MWh annually, he had said.
Back in May 2024, Head of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Dr Mahender Sharma, had told a meeting of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Economic Services that Government was actively studying the wind potential in the country, to decide on possible investments in this source of renewable energy.
“We’ve been looking at wind for some time. The coast of Guyana generally is favourable, but the wind speeds aren’t as attractive as we want them. But what has happened on the technological front is that turbines have become more efficient at converting that energy from wind power to electricity. So, we are looking at this, and GEA has established and is actively collecting wind data,” Sharma had disclosed.
However, he explained that it would take some time before a decision on investing in wind energy could be made.
“You need to spend at least 12 months to collect that data before you can make an investment decision and that involves acquiring wind measuring towers and anemometers at multiple levels, and collecting that data consistently over 12 months, and it is on that basis that you can decide on the level of wind insertion.
“So, we’re doing this, we’re about to set up one on the East Coast [of Demerara] and we have already started collecting some wind data at Leguan actually, and we believe that that could be a site for wind opportunities,” the GEA Head had noted.
Back then in its term in office, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government had approved the detailed examination of a proposal by Guyana Wind Farm Incorporated (GWF) for a 26-megawatt wind energy plant at Hope Beach, East Coast Demerara.
Back then, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had reported that investors had secured financing for the project, which proposes a US$0.12 fee per kilowatt hour.
Then under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government in 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had approved construction of the US$45M Hope Wind Farm Project.
The project was earmarked to be located on a 27-acre State-owned lease at Hope Beach (HB), and private leases at Chapman’s Grove (CHG), some 28km and 30km, respectively, South East of Georgetown centre.
In 2023, Dr Frederick Sukhdeo, a consultant with Hope Wind Energy Incorporated, had stated that the project would be a publicly-traded venture that would open up opportunities for anyone in Guyana to buy shares.
The start-up of this project remains uncertain however.
Nevertheless, the PPP/C Government has touted an integrated energy strategy that will see the diversification of Guyana’s energy mix to include natural gas, solar, hydro power and wind – all under the Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030.
Back in October, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, had stated that there was massive potential for the development of wind energy here.
“I’m very keen that we promote wind turbines in Guyana. It has not happened as yet, but it’s something that I will continue to pursue,” the British diplomat told <<<Guyana Times>>>.
According to Miller, the United Kingdom has really strong renewable energy offerings, especially in wind.
“The UK’s offer on renewable energy is really great. In fact, I was in Aberdeen last year and Aberdeen is very famous for its deep-sea oil and gas. Interestingly, they’ve now switch massively over to wind and a lot of the skills that were developed for oil and gas – the welding, the engineering, the leadership, the management – are very transferable into the renewable energy sector, into particularly wind,” she pointed out.
The British envoy believes that the same can be replicated in Guyana, that is, transferring the skills and expertise in the local oil and gas industry into wind. But with the country’s petroleum sector fairly new, High Commissioner Miller recognised that this transition could take some time.
“There have been some early discussions, but at the moment, I think Guyana is very focused on the Gas-to-Energy. But over time, I think it’s an area that’s definitely worth exploring… It’s something I’ve had discussions on, [but] we’ve not made a huge amount of progress yet. But I think it’s something that I will continue to pursue,” the UK diplomat said.