– says OCC head of gov’t plan to go fully ‘green’ by 2025

GUYANA’S commitment to have a full 100% supply of renewable energy by 2025, though ambitious, is difficult to achieve within the stated timeframe.

That’s according to Head of the Office of Climate Change (OCC) Janelle Christian.
Christian, while responding to a plethora of questions posed by the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Foreign Relations, said Guyana’s transition to 100 per cent renewable energy would require a substantial amount of financial resources and infrastructure development, not forgetting a change in the legislative framework.

“I believe that given the extensive research done over the last three years or so, it is clear that we cannot reach the goal of 100 per cent by 2025,” Ms Christian said.
As a signatory to the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Guyana has a responsibility to ensure that it has 100 per cent renewable energy supply by 2025.

Ms Christian noted that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will be assisting Guyana in reviewing its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Shevonne Wood of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) told the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee chaired by Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira that the government has been putting the necessary framework and systems in place to reduce the country’s dependency on fossil fuel.

Back in December 2016, the government drafted the National Energy Policy and by March 2017, an Energy Transition Roadmap was established, along with a Framework of the Guyana Green-State Development Strategy and Financing Mechanisms. The Green-State Development Strategy is currently being developed.

“There is a ‘green’ public sector initiative that would have public buildings being retrofitted or installed with solar PV systems,” Ms Wood pointed out, adding that since the programme commenced in 2017, already 70 buildings are being powered by some 0.96MW of renewable energy.

“And additional 1.94MW rooftop solar PV panels will be installed at 90 government buildings by the end of 2018,” she assured the Committee.
Small hydropower systems, she posited, will be constructed at suitable locations, and will include the rehabilitation of the 0.7MW Moco-Moco Hydropower Station in Region 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

Ms Wood disclosed that the project will be funded through the United Arab Emirates Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund (UAE-CREF), and that presently, the Geo-technical study is being funded by the IDB under the Sustainable Energy Programme.
The Kato Hydropower Station, which is expected to generate 0.15MW of electricity, is being funded by the IDB, according to Wood. She told the Parliamentary Committee that an invitation for bids was advertised on July 25, 2018.

Approximately four other locations are being considered for the construction of hydropower stations in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine.

Wood said that legislative framework has been altered to facilitate and encourage the use of renewable energy for the generation of electricity. “In 2017, Government amended legislation to allow for exemptions on the importation of items for wind and solar energy investment. One-off tax holiday of two years for companies involved exclusively in such importation; exemptions of customs duties and taxes on machinery and equipment to setup charging stations for electric vehicles; lower excise tax on hybrid and electric vehicles,” she noted.

The GEA is also encouraging the use of bio-digesters, and energy-efficient wood stoves are being installed in the Hinterland.