THE mega solar farm that was built in Mabaruma, North West District, to provide residents with 24 hours of electricity has not been operating since its completion.

The Regional Executive Officer (REO), Randolph Storm, said that the non-functioning state of the mega solar farm was because of the damage done to an important part by bad weather and lightning.

The government, he said, had made efforts to have a replacement part imported from Germany.

However, the REO disclosed that the farm was visited recently by the Regional Electrical Engineer (REE), Fredrick Cort, along with an engineer from the Guyana Defence Force, Major Nurse, to carry out rehabilitative work.

While inspecting the site to discover the root cause of the malfunction, the REO said that Major Nurse concluded that the part was burnt because the equipment was not earthed properly.

Even with the part being replaced, Nurse said that it will burn again because of the aforementioned reason.

Storm said that he would be travelling to Georgetown on Thursday (today) and he would take appropriate action aimed at having stable electricity for the residents soonest.
The community is currently being powered with electricity through a generator system in the town but is only afforded nine hours electricity per day (5PM-11PM and 5AM-8AM).
It was due to the aforesaid, and in keeping with the green agendthat the government, in 2016, decided to construct an ambitious $264M large-scale solar farm in the town.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan had told the National Assembly, during his budget presentation in 2016, that when operational, the 400-kilowatt solar farm would afford an additional 17 hours of electricity to the 3,000 residents of Mabaruma.

Meanwhile, in Port Kaituma, the REO said that the REE and Major Nurse also carried out rehabilitative works to a solar-powered system at the Port Kaituma Hospital.
This system was said to be unserviceable for over five years. However, within four hours, the REO said, Nurse fixed the broken system and it was in full operation.

Cort explained that the solar system had the capacity to provide adequate electricity, allowing full function of cold storage units and other electrical appliances, as well as the distribution of electricity to the Malaria Department and two apartments within its compound.

The system will be functional on a daily basis at the hospital. However, the main power supply at Port Kaituma was not operational.