Determination = PPP, and as D_G has predicted Guyana will achieve its dreams and goals for every citizen to clean, cheap and renewable electricity. Black-out will be a thing in the past. This project will be completed and reach the short sighted opposition parliamentarians is the same position as they were in pre 1992. I call it stuck in gear or only reverse gear is working.

Being focused is the objective.

When one door closes, opportunities are opened for numerous others.

Any private investor will have the change of Govt risk built into their model and will want consensus before investing.  Had the PPP not been a minority Govt and had a decisive majority, maybe the risk premium would have been mostly mitigated.  Looking at the state of politics today, no one knows if the PNC will be the next Govt.

Ramotar needs to work with Granger to address issues and come to an understanding.

Unlikely, since the great opportunity was at the last election which did not produce the desired result.

Now, things have unravelled and the AFC really has little effect, except at this time, with the combined opposition having a one-seat majority.

There are "cracks" within the current APNU group. At the next election, it will again be PNC running as an independent party.

******There are "cracks" within the current APNU group. At the next election, it will again be PNC running as an independent party********

I guess since Sithe hit the fan!

Many Indians want to consider the PNC but are afraid of what would unfold should they (PNC) come to power.  Indians fear they will couple up with the GDF and do as they wish and the ballot will no longer matter.

This is the "heart of the matter".

And, the fan might shed more on others.

Specifically since the last elections, indeed many individuals have seen the variety of political options for governing Guyana.

The "heart of the matter" points in the direction that the PPP/C will continue to be elected; despite the fact that ALL of the political parties have much to adjust; the PPP/C is the best of the group.

As I have stated numerous times, the best option is for the PROGRESSIVE elements of the PPP/C and the PNC to merge and work for the interest of Guyana.

Specific to the PNC, the core members; who have control of the party; are the same since the PNC was formed about 1957/1958 to those who were in Government from 1964 to 1992.

Tell the lot in the PPP to first demonstrate they can control costs at GPL then they can speap of future savings from subsidies which would not be necessary currently had it not been for poor management at GPL.

I also wonder why these people can speak of savings ween they were renting some seven or eight plants at 9/10 their cost on a yearly basis! These are truly audacious crooks!

Amalia Falls and any of a dozen small 1 to 10 megawatt hydro plants can be build. There is no need for these massive projects that begins bloated creature threatening to bankrupt the state.

These are the people who built a stadium before a bridge. The Berbice river bridge as a suspension bridge came in at some 45 million. Instead we built a stadium, spent another 15 million paying off farmers and building roads and putting our NIS scheme in the hands of PPP croneys and now we have a bridge that you have to force the people to cross by shutting out other means of crossing.

This Hydro Plant is similarly a scheme cobbled together because some fools save graft galore, beginning with those who give a murti vendor 15 million to build roads plus a blanket license to build a hydro plant.

this is a chance for Nerhu, cobra, baseman and the PPP Guyana so sweet team to poy their money where their ass mouth is.

If they have confidence in the PPP and this project go invest

About seventy to eighty sites, ranging for various outputs, were studied and the reports are in the Prime Minister's office.

Indeed, smaller projects can be built, but for isolated and local uses; a few are built and operating.

Within the framework for a hydroelectric project to serve the major needs for Guyana and indeed serve the mainland, a larger project is the current choice and Amaila proposal is the chosen one.

While smaller projects will be built, the ongoing focus is the development of a large scale hydroelectric project.

What a stupid idea to put all the eggs in one basket. The industrialized countries have several sources of energy supply. And for good reason. A black out at one source won't bring the whole network to a stand still, except in an overload situation.

Guyana needs to adopt the strategy of small, inexpensive to build/maintain and plenty.  When it comes to hydro development.  Going big means taking too much risk, putting all your eggs in one basket and basically being a sitting duck for overwhelming debt and the foreign institutions that benefit off of such large debt in developing countries.

The country has many sources of water,wind and solar power which can be utilized with the new technology that is available such as wave energy generation technology.

One company that I have been looking at is Tidal Energy PTY LTD.  They have this Davidson Hill Venturi turbine that looks very promising for generating energy off of the Atlantic and feeding it into the electricity system in Georgetown.

We should not make this hydro power issue a political issue or a PNC/PPP/AFC bashout because it clouds our business sense.  Stick to the four issues. Building/maintaining cost, debt load, strategic power supply and location.

Are you kidding me? you talking about maintenance? what about them mansions in Pradoville 1&2 maintenance cost? What about Anil's U$150k gas guzzler range rover? You really think he can suddenly give up the good life and start living on public servant salary?  The corruption is now like a runaway freight train and is a must to even maintain the status quo...Guyana is heading for a colossal political train wreck..

Interesting! Wally, Guyana is so close to the equator. Why not Solar power?

There is always the opportunities for private individuals to become involved with the construction of small hydropower sites.

The private enterprises supply power to their customers and the excess power to the country's governing power organisation.

Can we get something going with the Hydro-Power and kick out the opposition on this deal? Let's bring in the Chinese!  

In time, hydropower will be a reality in Guyana.

and in time the ppp will be out of power and some of them will be in jail 

The Guyanese consumer needs a cheap supply of electricity.  Getting the private sector involved in supplying electricity is a two edge sword.  Once private business create monopolies in certain areas in supplying electricity then they will hold both the government and Guyanese consumer hostage.  Then it will be a return to what happen during the 1970s when private

Guyanese business Oligarchs did not have to compete and took advantage of the Guyanese consumer. We need both the private and public sectors to be invested in the Guyanese energy sector or else these Guyanese Oligarchs will have a field day with the Guyanese consumer. 

Private investors are in all parts of the world, monopolies are created and it will be no different in Guyana.

More private involvement/investments are needed with less government activities in many areas, including small hydropower development.

And the PPP has taken the thug PNC elements like Norman McLean, Nascimento and Bynoe.

I do not like business monopolies.  They eventually abuse customers.

And, what has the PNC maintained since 1957/1958 plus gathered until current times?

Each has his/her choices within the complex world.

Customers always have the options to choose businesses.

Power companies supplying electricity all over the world enjoy monopoly status. It would be unusual to have five different companies building power plants in the same city and you having a choice of which power company you want to supply you with electricity.  

What options do customers have when they have to choose a company to supply them with electricity? In many cities all over this world, there is only one power company supplying electricity. Unless you are willing to build a wind turbine in your backyard, run a massive generator or have many solar panels on your property, there are not many options available.

In my city of Bullhead Arizona I have little choice. But there are other cities such as in Texas where there is deregulation and there is competition between the electricity companies.  Demerara guy should know this because he lives most of the year in Canada where there is deregulation in some cities.  As long as there is no price fixing and there is true competition (unlike Enron) between power companies then the consumers will benefit.

Most cities have one power company and if they have more than one, it will not be many.

Under true deregulation the energy is usually supplied by several companies in competition with each other for customers.  The wires,meters and poles are owned and maintained by a different company for a fee. The meter reading, billing and financial records are done by a different company for a fee. So there is true competition without forcing the customer to take it or leave it.

That happens in the very few places places where you have deregulation but that is not the norm. I lived in many places in the U.S and in Europe and I never once had a choice of selecting a power company. In the future, we may see more cities embracing deregulation but for now, most places have only one company.

In some places where they have more than one company, they are confined to certain areas. You may have two companies in the city but one supplies the eastern half and the other the western half. 

Guyana should look into offshore windmills along the coast.

I think they already did but whoever did the study told them that it's not feasible. 

Jagdeo said it wasn't feasible after he saw the kickback he was getting for Amaila Falls 

Note that the estimate for Amaila Falls was US $450 million

US$26M Hope Beach wind farm no longer feasible

Hydropower plant will be aggressively pursued – Jagdeo

By Gary Eleazar

Guyana simply does not have favourable wind flow to justify the setting up of the intended wind farm at Hope Beach, East Coast Demerara.
This is according to Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo during an interactive session with media operatives, yesterday.
He emphasized that Guyana would have had to install 11 megawatts of power which when transferred to the national grid would have been reduced to three megawatts. This was a costly exercise given that with renewable energy the initial cost is high.
“We don’t have the wind flows that will do wind power justice like some other countries have.”
The president said that is why the country opted for a fossil fuel option, which it subsidises. He added that an expected 21 megawatts that is expected to come on stream in September at the Kingston Power Plant
According to the Guyana Energy Agency’s website, “The Government of Guyana and DELTA Caribbean N.V, signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) in March 2007 for the construction of a 13.5 MW Wind Farm at Hope Beach, ECD.”
The project was supposed to supply power to the grid and was expected to be commissioned in 2010.
The executing company on its website had listed the activity to cost some US$26M.
As it relates to the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project, the Head of State reminded that the country went out to tender, the bids came in but at the time the investors cited the financial crisis.
Jagdeo was adamant however that “by September we have to get definitive word from the investor…they are doing some additional studies.”
He noted that if at that time the investors cannot move forward with the project, “then the State, because it has spent a bit of money, will inherit all of the documents, the drawings, the designs, the environmental permit and everything else which has taken years to put together.”
He said that should that time come “we will have to see some other source of building, this including using some of the funds that we can get from the Low Carbon Development Strategy…Renewable energy is very important in the long run.”
“We have to build that hydro one way or another; we have to do it.”
The project is based on an initial study that was carried out between the years 1974 and 1976 to explore the hydroelectric potential under a grant from the United Nations.
That study was done by Montreal Engineering over the two-year period.
A number of sites were identified, but through a shortlist process, these were eventually trimmed to three “most promising” sites.
Further studies by the developer between 1997 and 2001 related to the demand for power, the economics, environmental, ecological and political impacts of developing each of these sites led to Amaila as the location of choice.
In 1998, Synergy Holdings Inc. joined with Harza Engineering Company (now called MW Harza Global) to fund and perform a detailed feasibility study and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the first Phase of the project.
Between 1999 and 2001, a full feasibility study and EIA was carried out on site including surveying, drilling in excess of 400 meters, and several site visits by Harza engineers to evaluate the drill cores and the physical characteristics of the site and to install river gauging equipment downstream of the falls.
A man-camp on site and an access road crew in excess of 50 personnel worked on this project for several months. Drilling equipment was flown in by helicopter – supplies came in by river and the ATV access road.
Following the on-site investigations and mapping, several alternate designs were looked at and the developers chose a final design that offered the lowest construction cost while maintaining the expandability of the project.
The Amaila site is located on the Kuribrong River; a tributary of the Potaro, and the nearest point of access is the airstrip at Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River, approximately 15 miles to the south.
An overland trail exists from Kaieteur to Amaila while access is also provided over land by an all-weather road through Tumatumari on the Potaro River and on to Mahdia and Kangaruma
River access along the Potaro-Kuribrong Rivers to the foot of Amaila Falls involves several portages around rapids and waterfalls.
The road from Tumatumari was recently extended to Mahdia/Kangaruma that brings you closer to the site but approximately 30 miles of additional roads will need to be built to the top of Amaila Falls.
In mid-2005, serious talks were restarted between Synergy, the Guyana Power and Light Inc. and the government in an attempt to finally put the project on a fast track development schedule.
Following a series of meetings with Government, an MOU was signed between the developers and Government on May 23, 2006, outlining their agreement to proceed with the development of the Hydropower plant.
The construction process should have commenced in September last when the tender process should have closed but was subsequently extended by President Bharrat Jagdeo, who has publicly committed to building the hydropower station – estimated to cost approximately US$450M – before he demits office.
The fate of the project, at least in the near future, now depends on the extended tender process or should that fail because foreign investment is dwindling, the government commits to building it with taxpayers’ dollars.

Oh lord, another katahar idea.

If you got a better idea that is cheaper and would not put this country with such a small population at debt risk then let us hear it.

like I said before: We should not make this hydro power issue a political issue or a PNC/PPP/AFC bashout because it clouds our business sense.

Stick to the four issues. Building/maintaining cost, debt load, strategic power supply and location.

Banna, solar is more expensive than the current sources and reliability in an issue. Unless much more productive panels are developed, it will only be supplemental, mostly the rich nations and a few places where rich nations donate it for free.  Guyana is not the only country exposed to much sun, why you think it's not used more.