Guyanese will soon begin enjoying more reliable energy as a new 46.5-megawatt power generation plant will be commissioned.
This was stated by Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar, during an interview on the National Communications Network (NCN) on Wednesday.
“It is actually on the grid right now, but we are going to have the commissioning very shortly. They are doing the reliability test. So, they are actually putting power onto the grid, but on a test basis,” Minister Indar stated.
The $10 billion power plant is located at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Garden of Eden Power Station. The state-of-the-art power plant constructed by Wärtsilä is dual-fuel energy, meaning it can utilise heavy fuel oil and natural gas simultaneously.
Additionally, the Minister noted that the Government was working quickly on providing Guyanese with cheap and reliable energy. Expressions of Interest (EoIs) were requested for the gas-to-shore project, which will generate about 300 megawatts of power. Of that amount, about 250 megawatts will go towards the national grid and projected to be completed by 2024.
Further, Minister Indar said Government was working to fulfil its manifesto promise with the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project. He noted that a Request for Proposals (RFP) is also out for that project, which will produce 165 megawatts of renewable energy.
The RFP outlines two options. The first is to Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT). This means that all costs of the project up to the commissioning date would be borne by the developer, who would operate the project for a 20-year BOOT period. At the end of the period, the project would revert to the Government at no cost.
The second option is for a Design-Build-Finance (DBF) where the developer finances the development of the project up to the commissioning date. The Government would later take over the project and fulfil the financing repayment obligations, only upon the satisfactory completion and commissioning.
