Evaluation team being set up to review bids for Amaila Falls Hydro Project

Months after several international companies submitted their proposals to develop the 165-megawatts (MW) Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), the Guyana Government is now in the process of putting together the technical team to review the bids received. “Amaila Falls Project is awaiting evaluation right now. We’re putting together the evaluation team,” a senior Government official recently told the Guyana Times. Some five foreign companies are in the race for the AFHP after responding to the Government’s call for proposals, which closed in May. A joint venture (JV) between United States (US)-based OEC USA, GE Vernova, and Australia’s Worley submitted the highest bid of US$800,060,842, according to tender documents seen by this newspaper.
The OEC, GE Vernova, and Worley grouping had previously tendered to be pre-qualified for this project in 2023 before the Government eventually decided to reissue the Request for Proposal (RFP) last year. Coming in second with a US$668,000,000 proposal was a consortium of CAMCE-CMEC from China. China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd. (CAMCE) and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) have individually undertaken construction projects in Guyana’s public sector and have also bid for major gas-related projects here.

Another Chinese company, China Gezhouba Group Company Limited-HYI, submitted a bid to the tune of US$432,338,377 – the third highest proposal. In addition, Chinese state-owned, Sinohydro Corporation Limited, came in fourth with a US$416,866,949.21 proposal. The fifth company that bid for the project was a JV comprising India-based Afcon Infrastructure Limited and Scandian Infrastructure AB from Sweden. However, no figure was listed for this JV in the tender document seen this newspaper. Back in October 2025, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), which has responsibility for the energy sector, published the RFP invite for the Amaila Falls Hydro project under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model. According to the RFP document, the project is expected to deliver a minimum installed capacity of 165-MW including the hydro dam, powerhouse, substation, and a 23-square-kilometre (km²) storage reservoir, consistent with environmental studies and permits. However, it was noted that the size of the hydro may be re-engineered to take into account of changes in turbine technology thus allowing more than 165-MW to be generated and transmitted. Under the revised RFP, developers are required to assume all geotechnical risks associated with the project and must demonstrate proven capability and financial capacity to deliver large-scale hydro projects. Only firms or consortia that have successfully built at least three hydro projects of 100-MW or more in the last 10 years will be considered.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been keen on reviving the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, which has been on the cards since 2011 but was blocked by the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition both in and out of office.
The 165-MW project was the flagship initiative of the Bharrat Jagdeo-crafted Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). However, the project failed to take off despite having a developer in US-based Sithe Global, which was backed by investment major – The Blackstone Inc.
In August 2013, Sithe Global announced that it was pulling out of the project, which it said was too large to continue without national consensus, citing the lack of consensus in Guyana’s Parliament. At the time, the then-A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) opposition parties, holding a majority of seats in the National Assembly, had both voted down key pieces of legislation, which consequently halted the project.
Then during its term in office from 2015 to 2020, the APNU+AFC Coalition regime, again, shelved the project. The revival of the 165-MW hydropower project was one of the promises made by the ruling PPP/C in its 2020 Elections Manifesto, and again in the 2025 Manifesto. In November 2021, the AFHP was awarded to China Railway First Group (CRFG) but negotiations fell through after the company wanted to change the BOOT model which Government rejected. A revised RFP was then issued in 2023 and four companies – Rialma S.A. (Grupo Rialma) from Brazil; China International Water & Elec. Corp; Lindsayca CH4 Guyana Inc., and a group made up of OEC, GE Vernova and Worley – had submitted tenders to be pre-qualified for the Amaila Falls Hydropower project. Those bids were under evaluation for several months before the Government decided to eventually retender the project with new technical requirements last year.