Residents of Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini) are expected to benefit very soon from improved power supply after the new solar farm is added to the power generation mix.
The solar farm in Mabaruma, Region One
The Department of Public Information (DPI) has reported that the $264 million solar farm located at Khan’s Hill, Mabaruma, is now complete as it relates to its construction and installation. Additionally, swift works to finalise automatic switching from the generator to the solar farm are still being undertaken by the contractor.
Meanwhile, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, in a statement, has said that the automatic switching from solar power to the generator during cloudy days or during the rainy season was not yet ready. He noted that there were half-hour storage batteries in place for when it was overcast for more than half an hour, so that the generator will automatically switch on.
“The system is a hybrid system whereby during the day when the sun is up, the whole town would be powered by the solar farm. Solar is intermittent, so, therefore, you may be having a 100 per cent solar, then a cloud passes over and you drop from 100 to 80 per cent. On a cloudy or overcast day, the difference between what the solar power is producing and what the town needs will have to be augmented by the generator … it [the solar farm] produces 400 kilowatts, so we have batteries for 400 kilowatts for half an hour if there is no sun,” Minister Patterson said.
The initiative is part of the Government’s plan to move Guyana towards becoming a ‘Green State’, and will act as a medium to reduce the fossil fuel bill within the country as well as to prevent carbon emissions.
Other solar farms at Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo); Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) are also expected to be established.
