— several solar, wind and hydro projects to be completed by 2020

PUBLIC Infrastructure Minister David Patterson on Friday announced that several renewable energy projects involving solar, wind and hydro and amounting to some 30 megawatts will be completed by 2020.

At the end of this year, some five megawatts of renewable energy would have been installed, representing just about five per cent, the minister said.
“By the end of 2020, it will be about 30 megawatts — we are well on our way to achieving our target of becoming 100 per cent renewable energy— we have made progress,” he told reporters.

Speaking at a joint post-Cabinet press conference, Minister Patterson said these will be constructed in the three new towns–Bartica, Lethem and Mabaruma–as well as Mahdia and several interior locations.
In Bartica, a 1.5-megawatt solar farm, with storage, will be constructed with funding provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) at a cost of US$3.87M. The project will commence sometime this year and will last for 18 months. Feasibility study is being completed.

A micro hydro power project of one megawatt will be constructed at Itiribisi with funding under the Guyana REDD Plus Investment Fund (GRIF) at a total investment cost of US$5.22M. The time frame for implementation is two and a half years. Technical and economical assessments and other studies are ongoing at the site.

For Lethem, he said a one-megawatt farm with storage will be constructed though a US$2.6 million IDB loan. This project, he noted, should be completed in 18 months.
The Public Infrastructure Minister said too that a 2.2 megawatts dual hydro-system, using the Moco Moco and Kumu Falls, will be constructed. The funding will be received through the United Arab Emirates and the GRIF. The project time is two and a half years.

The total investment for Moco Moco is US$2.2M while US$6.42M will be invested for the Kumu Falls.
A site visit to Moco Moco is scheduled for the near future and a geotechnical study, which is funded by the IDB, is presently ongoing. That report will be received in the third quarter of this year.

In Mabaruma, the installation of a 0.4-megawatt solar farm with storage is ongoing with funding of US$1.3M provided through the national budget. This project, the minister said, is slated to be completed in August.
For Mabaruma as well, there will be a micro-hydro power 0.2 megawatts and that is being funded by the National budget and GIZ Rita, a small project about US$200,000 and construction commences in the 3rd quarter of 2018 and should be completed next year. A US$1.8M Photovoltaic system will be constructed within 18 months in Mahdia.

And government has given private developers up to the end of July to secure financing for the 2.2-megawatt Tumatumari hydro project.
Minister Patterson said Government will enter a power purchase agreement with the company if they are successful. If not, the government will take over the project, which is anticipated to cost US$4.4M.

The project is currently with a private developer, Tumatumari Holding Inc. “It has been with them for quite a while. They said that they are about to do financial closure. We have given them up to the end of July, 2018, to reach financial closure with their investor,” he said, before adding that if the developer is unable to reach financial closure, government will take over the project, thereby making it one of its priority projects.

Meanwhile, a utility-scale, four- megawatt PV system, outfitted with a substation and funded through a grant from the Chinese government, will begin later this year on the West Coast Berbice. A feasibility study is currently being conducted and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has already been signed.

Funding has also been secured to commence the hydro project in Kato, in Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine) and the Hope Beach Wind Farm project remains on the cards.

Patterson informed that funding has been secured for solar farm projects at Port Kaituma, 0.6 megawatt; Kwakwani, 1 megawatt; and Matthews Ridge, 0.4 megawatt. Kwakwani will cost US$2.6 million, Port Kaituma US$1.8 million and Matthews Ridge US$2 million.
Further, Minister Patterson said, as a member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Guyana will benefit from a US$15M line of credit, from which government plans to power several Indigenous communities.

The Ministries of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and Communities have been tasked with identifying these villages. These, he noted, will be utility scale installations rather that roof top solar, to ensure entire villages are powered. It is anticipated that 4 megawatts of power will be achieved from that project.

Some US$7.7M has been invested in renewable energy since 2017, Patterson said while noting that since taking office in 2015, the APNU+AFC coalition government emphasised the need for renewable energy here.

The aforementioned projects were done in collaboration with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), the Hinterland Electricity Corporation, Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Office of Climate Change.