GUYANA’s commitment to becoming a 100 per cent renewable energy state by the year 2025 will shortly be one step closer to reality.

One of Guyana’s newest capital towns Mabaruma, in the Barima-Waini region, will shortly benefit from electricity supplied by a solar energy farm. The use of solar power is pivotal to Guyana’s sustainable energy goals and going solar is a cornerstone of the national energy policy. This positive development is good news to the residents of that town, who will soon have a more reliable energy supply.

Government has announced that the construction of a $254 million solar farm at Mabaruma has been completed and will soon be connected to the town’s power grid. Currently, residents of Mabaruma receive their electricity from generators that use fossil fuels; however, when the solar farm becomes functional, the town will have a hybrid system.

Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson explained that, “During the day when the sun is up the whole town will be powered by the solar farm.” He elaborated that because sunlight is intermittent and variable in intensity, the generating sets will fill any shortfall in demand. For example, on cloudy days the solar farm may generate 80 per cent of the town’s electricity; the generators will supply the remaining 20 per cent required by residents. Switching between solar power and fossil-fuel power will be smoothly automatic.
Additionally, storage batteries are in place to store energy from the 400 kilowatt facility, so that solar power will be available for up to half an hour in the absence of sunlight. This feature will be most useful if there is rainfall or short-term cloud cover.

The conversion of sunlight into electricity using solar panels or photovoltaic cells was first used on a commercial scale during the 1980s. Since then, the cost of producing and storing solar energy has been reduced steadily, making solar power available to less wealthy territories. The International Energy Agency projects that by the year 2050, some 16 per cent of the world’s electrical power will come from photovoltaic cells, and 11 per cent will be derived from other solar technologies. The APNU+AFC administration is determined that Guyana will be one of the countries taking the lead in that inevitable transition from the use of fossil fuels to the use of renewable, clean energy supplies such as solar power.

On January 30 of this year, Guyana signed and ratified the ‘Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).’ The ISA was formed to support the solar-energy ambitions of small, developing, sun-belt states such as Guyana, by promoting investment-financing mechanisms for the use of solar technologies. Additionally, the ISA will facilitate information-sharing, technology transfer, dissemination of scientific data, and capacity-building in the solar sector. At the time that government signed the Framework Agreement, it had announced that Guyana is now fully and irreversibly committed to becoming a Solar State; a key step towards the ultimate goal of transitioning to a Green State.

Government has embarked on this policy initiative having recognised Guyana’s solar potential. Our country is ideally placed in the tropic of Cancer–a mere 6.8 degrees north of the equator. Guyana enjoys a daily average of 12 hours of daylight throughout the year. With a population density of 3.5 persons per square km, and the fact that many hinterland communities are small and isolated, solar energy is not only the most efficient energy option, but a necessary one.

Additionally, solar power reduces the negative effects of fossil fuels and ensures the improvement of air and water quality, while mitigating the effects of climate change.
President David Granger has said that Guyana’s energy policy is not only about the environment, but also about energy and economic security. Energy from renewable sources will ensure energy availability for agro-processing, manufacturing, commercial offices, schools, hospitals, government offices, private businesses, and households.

His Excellency has said too, that renewable energy will empower entrepreneurs to expand their businesses as the cost of electricity will be lower and the supply will be more reliable.
Consistent with the clean, renewable, reliable energy policy, government has announced that solar farms will soon be constructed in the capital towns of Lethem in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region; solar farms will also be established at Mahdia in the Potaro-Siparuni region, and Bartica in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region. Residents of those areas, therefore, can also look forward to a brighter future.