Tumatumari Hydro electric plant on the cards
April 25, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source
The Hydro plant at Tumatumari is very much on the cards. Managing Director of Dynamic Engineering Mr.Lloyd Rose, said last week that arrangements are being finalized for the commencement of the project in the second half of this year.
He promised to release more details on the arrangements for the construction of the hydroelectric facility on his return from Honduras, but stressed,”Dynamic Engineering is in the final stages of preparation for the reconstruction of the hydro at Tumatumari. The hydro is definitely coming up.”
The rapids at Tumatumari and remains of the historic Tumatumari Hydro plant which supplied electricity from the late 1950s to the 1980s.
Mr. Rose said that Mahdia will be one of the beneficiaries of electricity provided by the reconstructed hydroelectric facility.
Mark Crawford, Region Eight Chairman, recently stated that the provision of electricity via the Tumatumari hydro plant is the most feasible solution for Mahdia and neighbouring communities.
He made the comment in relation to rationing of electricity by Mahdia Power and Light Company which many residents were finding to be extremely inconveniencing.
Crawford said that with hydro power from Tumatumari, some expected benefits are reduced electricity costs, reduced greenhouse gases (emission), saved foreign exchange on over 180 barrels of fuel monthly that is needed for the large generator at the Mahdia power company, and a more reliable supply of electricity.
“I believe that no effort should be spared by the government to assist the developers of the Tumatumari hydroelectricity since it will benefit the interior tremendously,” he said.
The hydro power plant at Tumatumari was constructed utilizing the rapids of the Potaro River near Tumatumari in the late 1950s by the British Guiana Consolidated Gold Fields and the Potaro Electric Company.
The plant was used to provide electricity for the gold mining operations of that company. The Tumatumari hydro plant provided electricity up to as late as the 1980s but was then allowed to fall into disrepair.
Dynamic Engineering recently took up the challenge to reconstruct the plant and to provide electricity for improved quality of life and economic and developmental activities in the Siparuni Sub-Region of Region Eight.
