Power purchase agreement being negotiated for hydropower – Jagdeo

In keeping with the Government’s push for renewable energy, a power purchase agreement is being negotiated for Guyana to benefit from hydropower when such a project comes online, such as in the case of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP).

During his presentation at the Energy Conference and Expo on Wednesday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo made reference to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and explained that the Government is focused on using proceeds from Guyana’s forest services to create a sustainable future and invest in renewable energy.
“The LCDS would focus on how we practise logging and mining in a sustainable, low carbon-impact manner. Then, of course, the document speaks to our energy mix of the future, our energy transitions; it details demand for the future, how we’re going to meet that energy demand.
“Shortly we’ll be tendering for the solar units, almost 35 megawatts of that. And right now, we’re negotiating a power purchase agreement for power from the hydro. That’s crucial on the sustainability side,” Jagdeo also said.
Meanwhile, a strategy that would allow for Guyana, Brazil and Suriname to share power via an energy corridor is in the drafting stages of being developed. This revelation was made by Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat on the second day of the Energy Conference and Expo.
In his presentation, the Natural Resources Minister spoke of the Gas-to-Shore project, which he said the Government is committed to implementing as quickly as possible. The Gas-to-Shore project also ties in to the Government’s intention to partner with its neighbours Suriname and Brazil to create an energy corridor and share power.

“Our talks with Suriname and Brazil are ongoing. Heads of State would have met recently. Fortunately, I was part of that meeting. And we are now in the drafting stages of developing a strategy that will work for our countries.
“Cognizant of the vast potential of Guyana and Suriname’s oil and gas sectors, the two countries have been strategising since 2021 on the development of this critical and lucrative sector. This is also being done with a commitment to ensure our country’s oil and gas sectors are prudently managed to the benefit of our peoples,” Minister Bharrat also said.
For this year, the Government allocated a total of $29.4 billion to the energy sector in Budget 2022. Construction of the AFHP will start this year, and is expected to conclude in 2027, even as the Government continues to ramp up spending on renewable energy projects as well as upgrades to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) infrastructure.
The AFHP was the brainchild of the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration, but was shelved soon after the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government had taken office in 2015.
In November of last year, it was announced that the Cabinet granted its “no objection” for the Office of the Prime Minister to engage China Railway Group Limited to construct the 165-megawatt Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.
The construction of the AFHP will be based on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, wherein the company would supply electricity to GPL at a cost not exceeding US$0.07737 per kWh, and where the company would provide the entire equity required by the project, and undertake all the risks associated with the project.
Work is also advancing on smaller hydropower energy sources, such as the construction of a 1.5MW hydropower plant at Kumu and the rehabilitation and upgrade to 700kW capacity of the defunct Moco Moco hydropower plant in Region 9. (G3)