AS part of regional developments across the country and to ensure that every resident benefits from a more comfortable and enhanced lifestyle, the Regional Chairman of Region Two, Vilma De silva, along with other regional officials and representatives from the Guyana Utility Scale Solar Photovoltaic Programme (GUYSOL), recently met and discussed the construction of a solar farm in Charity.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, De Silva explained that the construction of the solar farm is part of President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s vision of ensuring that residents of the area are not affected by the power outage.

According to her, “to develop the solar farm, we will have to invest in heavy equipment to get the job done. So, the main aim of the site visit yesterday (Thursday) was to look at the area and decide where we will build a bridge that will be constructed over the canal and sturdy enough to hold the weight of these machines.”

She added that the new Charity solar farm is expected to produce 3 megawatts (MW) of power for the area, which is expected to complement the other facility in Onderneeming that is set to produce 5MW.

“So, we will be having two solar farms in the region to add to our grid; the one at Charity will produce 3 MW, and the second one that will be built in Onderneeming will produce 5 MW. So, that will give us 8MW that will be added to the grid in Anna Regina,” she added.

Due to the massive housing developments that are being done in the region, De Sliva explained that the primary goal of these solar farms is to make sure that the locals have access to additional electricity.

The Regional Chairman said: “As part of the president’s mission to make sure that his people are not at a disadvantage due to the massive, ongoing developments that are happening, in the area of Charity alone, we have the expansion of a new housing area, which will accommodate over 400 house lots, and in Onderneeming, we have works that are ongoing there as well. These types of investments are not just for Region Two, but they are happening across the country.”

RECEPTIVE AND HAPPY

De Silva also noted that the residents are very receptive and happy about the new developments with the solar panels.

“The residents of these areas are very happy with what is happening. These ideas, we can say, started with them, the people, on our outreaches. These are some of the concerns that were raised, and now they are very happy that we are delivering on what we promised. During last year, we experienced constant power outages. Even though we had an additional generator, we also discovered that we had an overloaded system on the coast due to the weather. A lot of residents also installed air conditioning systems and other appliances. So, again, with these solar farms, these issues will be taken care of.”

Recognising that Region Two continues to be one of the fastest-growing and developing regions in Guyana and in all the sectors, De Silva credits President Ali for playing an integral role for them to emulate.

“We are grateful to have a leader that we can look up to for guidance and leadership. The development of this region is the result of hard work from the government, regional officials, and our president. Looking at President Ali and his drive for improvement and betterment motivates me and my team, knowing that we can make a difference in the lives of so many people,” De Silva added.

Earlier in March, the Government of Guyana signed contracts totalling US$38 million to acquire 18 megawatt-peak (MWP) of solar power capabilities, marking a major step towards the adoption of renewable energy.

With the signing of these contracts, the country is taking a significant step towards cleaner and more efficient energy solutions by strengthening the sustainable energy infrastructure in Regions Two, Five, and Six.

SUMEC Complete Equipment and Engineering Company Limited and XJ Group Corporation (the contractor) are working together to implement the 18-month project. The Guyana/Norway partnership is providing funding for it, with an estimated $83.3 million invested. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is in charge of overseeing GUYSOL.

In explaining the scope of the project, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh, said: “Those are significant additions to electricity-generating capability, and they represent a significant step forward in our transition to renewable sources of energy. They represent the single largest installation of solar capability in our country’s history thus far and the single largest investment in energy to date.”