Amaila construction for likely start before yearend … Delays led to annual US$100M loss - PM Hinds
By Gary Eleazar, January 11, 2015, Source - Guyana Chronicle
THE 165MW Amaila Falls Hydro-electric Plant remains Guyana’s most strategic project at this point in time, and if all goes well, construction is slated to start before the end of this year.This disclosure was made recently by lead negotiator on the project, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Power and Light Company, Winston Brassington.
He was at the time appearing on a televised interview with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and GPL’s Chief Executive Officer, Bharrat Dindyal, and announced that “in 2015, we are hoping that everything will be in place to see the project restart where construction will actually start in the latter half of this year.”
Winston Brassington
Government, he said, has remained steadfast in its pursuit of the project even after its partner in 2013, the Blackstone Group, walked from the project as a result of political discord.
Brassington reminded his audience that it was the Parliament which blocked key pieces of legislative requirements; “We didn’t have unanimity,” he said, “and Blackstone withdrew.”
According to Brassington, “We have been working continuously since that time to get this project back on track, and I think most recently you would have heard His Excellency speaking to things progressing positively… I believe that in the latter half of this year, we should be able to see the project restart with construction.”
President Donald Ramotar, in his New Year’s address to the nation, had alluded to some of the progress being made with regard to the project.
In that address, the President had announced that Norway has transferred earnings from its partnership with Guyana, approximately US$80M, to the Inter-American Development Bank to fund part of Guyana’s equity share in the project.
“This is a significant accomplishment; it demonstrates that all partners have strong confidence in Amaila. The project is once again moving forward,” the President had said.
The GPL Chairman, in his televised interview, reminded that with the advent of the Amaila Falls Hydro-electric Plant, all of the utility company’s generation needs will be covered for the Demerara and Berbice grids.
And while Essequibo will not be supplied using the Amaila Falls Hydro-electric Plant, Linden, in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), will be a beneficiary of the electricity generated.
The cheaper, more reliable source of electricity is also being looked at as an incentive for those consumers such as businesses that self-generate, to return to the grid.
Speaking to the reliability of electricity being generated from the hydroelectric plant, Dindyal compared the two options. The current generation capacity of GPL is supplied using numerous generating sets of different sizes and capacity to meet peak demand.
He said that with the coming on stream of the Vreed-en-Hoop plant, this has led to a vast reduction in the number of units but there still remains a large fleet of engines in operation.
GREATER RELIABILITY
This, he said, translates into thousands of moving parts having to work seamlessly to deliver reliable electricity, whereas with the hydroelectric plant there are four large turbines with fewer operating parts which effectively means greater reliability.greater reliability.
According to Brassington, not only will the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Plant reduce the cost of generation in Guyana, it will also insulate the country against the volatility of the price of fuel on the world market.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who also shared the spotlight during the televised debate also weighed in on the successful construction of the hydro-electric plant and said this has been a dream of Guyanese for generations now.
“Hydro development has been an aspiration of the Guyanese people from since the 1950s, 1960s,” said Prime Minister Hinds.
He reminded that the late President Cheddi Jagan had been enticed by the idea of a hydro electric plant on the Demerara River in the Tiger Hill area, while the People’s National Congress in the 1970s had committed itself to a larger development in the Upper Mazaruni.
The PNC’s pursuit was for some 3,000 MW, way beyond Guyana’s generation need at the time or at present and according to Prime Minister Hinds, “We are looking at Amaila as the best fit to our grid.”
He did recognize that the successful construction of a hydro electric plant will be in Guyana’s hinterland and will have to rely on an effective transmission conduit to conduct the electricity generated to the recipient electrical grids.
This, he said, has been taken into consideration along with other factors such as the variation in water flow at the Amaila Falls, during the course of the year.
In lamenting the delay between 2013 when the Blackstone Group (Sithe Global) walked from the project and now, the Prime Minister surmised that Guyana lost an average of US$100M a year.
This, he explained, would have happened as a result of the cutting of the generation costs had the Amaila Project been on stream and not stymied in 2013 by the political opposition.
“That’s a big loss that we suffered when Amaila didn’t go ahead in 2013,” said Hinds. --- (By Gary Eleazar)
Please don't hate me for being a pro-development.
