Amaila falls US$80M
…says “Green strategy” still to reach Parliament
Now that the Government has revealed that it has been able to secure another tranche of the Norway Fund, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has again expressed his discontent with the solar energy deal, while pointing out that there is still no clear framework for renewable energy in Guyana.
Jagdeo also argued that nothing of this nature was taken to Parliament, and warned that spending of monies must meet the stipulations in the agreement with Norway. Therefore he questioned what public policy document the Government had presented to Norway.
He recalled that Director of the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) Per Fredrik had stated that Guyana needs to establish a credible pathway to a clean and renewable energy transition, in line with its nationally determined contributions and the original Norway agreement.
“Pharo made it clear that this must be done through a public policy document with formal status,” Jagdeo said. According to him, the Government’s Green State Development Strategy cannot be the public policy document with formal status, since that has not even been completed.
“The Green State Strategy is hollow. We don’t know what document they gave to Norway. They have to come clean, they have to say how all the safeguards in the original agreement will be met, and they have to say how the money will be spent transparently,” Jagdeo told a news conference on Thursday.
The former Head of State, whose brainchild is the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) — the proposal that helped to earn Guyana funds from Norway for protecting its rainforest — expressed worry over all of these issues, while claiming that Government may have tried to deceive the Norwegian Government.
Trip to Norway
Jagdeo also questioned Government officials’ recent trip to Norway, because he feels the local delegation was not prepared to discuss long-term plans, but was more focused on getting some money.
“It seems that the only purpose of the trip was to get the US$80 million, to get permission from Norway to spend the money. This is typical of Government; (having) nothing new conceptually, only spending what the PPP left.”
Further to that, the Opposition Leader said he expected that Government would have had a comprehensive discussion. He therefore said, “The visit should have resulted in clarity on how we (Guyana) will receive the final tranche to take us up to the $250 million earned in the first agreement. There should have been clarity about the status of the negotiations for the new agreement.”
Amaila Falls Project
Norway had, since 2009, supported the Amaila Falls Project, depositing US$80 million in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), earmarked for Guyana’s equity share in Amaila Falls Hydropower Inc, a special purpose company for realising the project. But in December 2015, Government announced that the US$80 million which had been earmarked for the project could go to other energy initiatives.
Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had said that the independent fact-based assessment conducted by Norconsult does not define Amaila as the best option for renewable energy in Guyana, but rather the “most advanced”. He explained that there are 67 other sites in Guyana that have potential to generate hydropower, but Amaila is the only site with the most dated feasibility report.
Patterson noted, too, that if Government were to pursue Amaila, it would mean other renewable energy plants would need to be established to complement the power provided by Amaila. On these grounds, he explained, Government is still deciding on the best way forward.
The APNU/AFC Administration, since its days in the Opposition, has been strongly against the Project – which could have been providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy in the next few months, had it been given the green light from the inception.
Nonetheless, Government had announced that the report by Norconsult would determine whether the project will move forward.
The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, which started under the previous Administration, was the flagship project of the five-year forest protection partnership.
Guyana was expected to earn up to US$250 million in performance-based payments based on an independent verification of deforestation and forest degradation rates and progress on REDD+ enabling activities.
REDD+ is a global initiative that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
Norway had transferred US$80 million to the IDB for the project, but when the APNU/AFC Government took office, it said that proceeding with the project would be irresponsible. Norway had urged the Government to consider the merits of the project, as Guyana stood to lose the US$80 million earmarked if it failed to come up with a plan for transformational renewable energy sources that can be realised in the next few years, hence a review of the project was conducted. (Samuel Sukhnandan)
