GUYANA is committed to net zero emissions by 2050. This is according to Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, who recently addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number Seven, which speaks to ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

According to the minister, Guyana is fully supportive of net zero emissions by 2050 which, it must be said, is a bold and ambitious target having regard to the fact that Guyana has only recently become an oil-producing nation and is well poised to benefit from a number of new oil wells in the near future.

We are, however, moving in the direction of a decarbonised world and Guyana must fall in line. Already, several measures have been put in place by the current PPP/C administration aimed at transforming the energy sector along a low-carbon trajectory. The energy sector is now being re-engineered as an engine of economic growth by way of ensuring greater energy security, universal access to energy, diversification of the energy mix and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of sustainable energy projects.

The minister in his address made reference to the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy which will allow the country to continue being a net carbon sink.  This, he said, will generate forestry climate services, while keeping its economy on a low-carbon path, ensuring the protection of the country’s bio-diversity and marine resources, as well as the prudent management of the country’s abundant water resources.

In such a scenario, the whole of Guyana will benefit. Both households and the business community stand to benefit from cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power. Regrettably, the Amaila Falls hydro-electric power project set in motion by the previous PPP/C administration, but which was aborted  by the APNU+AFC when it took power on May 2015, did not come on stream.

That project by now would have accommodated a significant amount of our energy load at lower unit cost. All of that is however, water under the bridge. The current PPP/C administration has signalled its interest in re-activating the project, which is expected to deliver another 160 MW of new power by 2025. Solar energy is projected to yield another 30MW and will together give a big boost to the power needs of the country.

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has indicated his full confidence that by 2024 an additional 500 MG of energy will be added to the electricity grid. In addition, the highly anticipated gas-to- shore project will see roughly 250 MW of additional power generation. This project is expected to come on stream by 2024 and with a projected lifespan of 25 years.

The next five years promises to be an exciting period from the standpoint of clean, affordable and reliable power.