– with securing of a supplier’s credit in the sum of US$3.6M

WITH a supplier’s credit in the sum of US$3.6M already secured from Chongqing Water Turbine Works Co., Tumatumari Hydro Inc. is putting plans in motion to commence the rehabilitation of the Tumatumari Hydropower Station on the Potaro River, Region Eight.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Saturday, Tumatumari Hydro Inc. Director and Corporate Secretary, Lloyd Rose said the project is expected to cost US$4.6M while noting that the financing structure comprises two components – Equity Capital and Debt Capital.

“In relation to the debt capital, we have acquired already by virtue of a contract for the engineering, procurement and construction for the new equipment and that comes along with supplier’s credit in the amount of US$3.6M,” Rose told this newspaper.

That contract was signed between Tumatumari Hydro Inc., a private sector special purpose company established in 2010, and Chongqing Water Turbine Works Co. on May 26, 2018. Chongqing Water Turbine Works Co. manufactures hydropower equipment. It was founded in 1981 and is based in Chongqing, China.

The US$1M equity capital has not been acquired; however, Rose assured that the Tumatumari Hydro Inc. is in the process of securing the finance. The company has since reached out to the government.

“We have indicated to the government where we are and we have invited the Government to see the options there might be to support the initiative, and so we have invited them,” Rose said.

The multimillion-dollar rehabilitation project is expected to commence early 2019 once the required funds are secured.

“The scope of the project is the full rehabilitation of the existing plant which will take the form of the complete replacement of all the electromechanical equipment resulting with the new capacity of two units of 1.1 megawatts each,” he explained.
Once the project is completed, the special purpose company, which was designed to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the supply services, will sell bulk energy to Mahdia Power and Light Incorporated and Troy Resources Guyana Inc.

ACQUIRING LICENSE
Tumatumari Hydro Inc. had acquired the rights to the area housing the now defunct hydropower station, and is now in the process of acquiring a license to operate the new facility.

“Under the law we have to acquire a license to own and operate a hydroelectric facility and we are well on our way to acquiring that license to do so in the context of the law,” Rose said.

In 2017, the hydropower company submitted an application to the Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) for the rehabilitation of the Tumatumari Hydropower Station.
According to an EPA advertisement published in Thursday’s edition of the Stabroek News, THI has submitted an application for environmental authorisation to undertake the rehabilitation of the Hydroelectric Power Generation Plant, located on the Tumatumari, Potaro River, Region Eight.

Last Thursday, while addressing hundreds of residents during a ceremony held to mark the declaration of Mahdia as a town, President David Granger reminded the residents of the capital town’s energy potential.

“You have the possibility of generating energy and I would like to support the minister of communities in his thrust to reactivate the Tumatumari Power Station, that eventually you will be able to get cheaper power, but even so you can get solar power, wind power, and that solar power or wind power or water power can help to drive small industries, household industries…,” the President said.

Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan said government is cognisant of the challenges Tumatumari Hydro Inc. is facing in acquiring the equity capital.

IN NEGOTIATION
According to Minister Bulkan, the government is in discussion and negotiation with Tumatumari Hydro Inc., noting that the government will try as far as possible to accommodate the company on the basis of the benefits of the project to the people of Mahdia and neighbouring communities.

“We recognise the benefits if we can have hydro power – hydro power is “green” power, it is clean power, it would be cheaper power, the cost to consumers in Mahdia would be about half of the current tariff. Currently, the tariff is about close to a $100 a kilowatt hour. It would be halved; it would be continuous and reliable,” Minister Bulkan said. Discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.

The Tumatumari Hydropower Station was the first hydropower station to be constructed on the Potaro River. The plant was constructed in 1957 by the British Goldfields Limited and operated until 1959 when the mining operations ceased. In 1969, the then government re-commissioned the station where the power was transmitted to serve the Guyana National Service camps at Tumatumari and Konawaruk. The development included an embankment dam, a concrete overflow dam, and a two-unit powerhouse with an installed capacity of 1500 kw, using 2 X 750 kw Francis turbines.

Tumatumari Hydro Inc. and Hydro Quebec International signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of this hydro station and were looking for a developer to complete its final works. Several MoUs were signed with various companies for the development of the Tumatumari Hydropower Project. However, all have since expired. Rose is optimistic that this time around the project will materialise.