Mabaruma Power Company applies for hydropower licence

The Mabaruma Power Company has applied to Government for a licence to supply hydropower ahead of the construction of a US$165,175 power plant at Hosororo Creek.
In a notice of application on Saturday, it was stated that any person who objects to this project has 21 days from September 1, 2018 to lodge a petition with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), opposing the grant of the licence.
The Hosororo Creek project will see the company providing eight per cent of Mabaruma’s energy demand, which will translate to approximately 64 MWh a year. The maximum horsepower capacity of the proposed plant is 26.8hp (20 kW).
In June, a GEA team visited Region One, and members identified the Hosororo Hydropower Project, which was one of 67 sites identified in 1976 as having hydropower potential. It will be situated at the Hosororo Creek about 4.6 km flight to the south-west of Mabaruma. The initial plant was built in the late 1980s to supply electricity to an agricultural produce processing facility that was built nearby. The project was abandoned some years after its inauguration.
In 2015, the German Government, through its German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) initiative, committed to assisting the GEA with developing the project.
US$91,108 of the financing was secured from the Government of Guyana and US$74,067 in financing was obtained from GIZ/REETA. It was reported earlier this year that there currently are approximately 700 customers, both residential and commercial, who are connected to the grid.
The resuscitated hydropower project will feature a new design that was conceptualized by GEA’s engineers, and will entail the construction of a 20kW run-of-the-river type micro hydropower plant, inclusive of weir/intake and penstocks, but the existing powerhouse will be used after it has undergone repairs.