– a major step on the way to construction
A MAJOR step has been taken towards completing the process for financing the construction of the Amaila Hydropower project. Last week, Amaila Falls Hydro Inc., a member of the Sithe Global group, announced the posting on their website of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) update on the project. The 2,500 page ESIA has been posted on www.amailahydropower.com and on the website for the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) www.lcds.gov.gy.
Further, it is anticipated that the ESIA will also be posted on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) website shortly.
The ESIA was commissioned to satisfy the environmental social health and safety policies and requirements of the major financial lenders who may provide financing for the project and provides a framework for implementing the project while managing and mitigating the project’s environmental and social effects.
Financing for the project will be derived from a combination of debt from the China Development Bank (CDB) and the International Development Bank (IDB), and equity investment from Sithe Global. Sithe Global will bear the development risk of the project. The Government of Guyana retains the right to invest equity into the project in order to reduce the cost of financing, and is expected to invest up to US$40 million from revenues earned from Guyana’s Interim REDD+ partnership with the Government of Norway between 2010 and 2015.

This investment will be processed through the Guyana REDD+Investment Fund(GRIF).

The ESIA was prepared by Exponent, Inc., an internationally recognized environmental and social consulting firm, with support from JGP Consultoria e Paricipacoes Ltda., an environmental consulting firm from Brazil with extensive experience in the Amazonian rainforest.
The ESIA presents the benefits of the project to the people of Guyana, which include:

*         Creating a dependable, renewable energy source for Guyana
*         Reducing both long-term energy cost and exposure to oil price volatility
*         Achieving major reduction in carbon emissions
*         Lessening the need for imported oil to power fossil fuel energy sources
* Providing significant enhancements to transmission and communications infrastructure.

The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project consists of a hydropower plant at a remote location at the confluence of the Amaila and Kuribrong rivers, approximately 200 km southwest of Georgetown; an electrical interconnection facility, consisting of about 270 km of a high-voltage transmission line and two new substations. Project construction involves developing an access road totalling approximately 85 km in length, and the upgrade of approximately 122 km of existing roads. Details of the area currently under construction are included in the ESIA.

The hydropower plant and the electrical interconnection facility are being developed, and will be owned and operated by Amaila Falls Hydro Inc., a member of the Sithe Global group that is incorporated in Guyana.
Sithe Global is a leading US-based international energy company, with a proven track record of developing energy projects around the world. The Project’s sponsor will operate the hydropower plant and the electrical interconnection for 20 years following the completion of construction, after which those facilities will revert to Guyana Power and Light at no cost. (GINA)