Brazilian investors among bidders interested in Amaila Falls – VP

Assuring that the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) will be built, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has revealed that Brazilian investors are among the bidders who have been submitting unsolicited bids for the project.

Jagdeo made this revelation during his presentation to the International

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Energy Expo on Tuesday. He laid out the backstory of the AFHP and noted to the thousands of attendees that while the Brazilian investors have submitted competitive bids, the Government is weighing if to accept them or go back out to tender.

“We retendered it, the Chinese company that won the bid could not complete the project because they could not raise the capital. We wanted an arrangement where we would buy power and not develop the hydro itself. We’ve had a number of unsolicited bids, two from Brazil, recently. And they’ve come in very, very competitively.”

“We’re looking at whether we’ll make a decision to go with one of them or we’ll go out back to public tender. Most likely we’ll go back out to public tender. But the hydro will be built,” Jagdeo said.

Jagdeo also revealed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is exploring the opportunities for exporting green hydropower. He pointed out that this is all part of creating a green econo- my that will allow Guyana to increase its energy supply, earn money and fulfil its commitments to reduce its carbon emissions by 70 per cent in 2030 through a progressively cleaner energy mix.

“The hydro, the gas-to-energy project and the solar project we’re pursuing, will cut emissions by 70 per cent, yet triple installed capaci- ty. That is very important for us. Secondly, even if we don’t use the hydro to supply industries or consumer needs, we may be able to use it to do green hydrogen, which would potentially become another export for Guyana, that all the power from hydro will go to doing green hydrogen. We’re exploring that as a possibility.”

Jagdeo spoke about

Guyana’s energy policy when it comes to the smaller projects, noting that the Government is focused on diversifying its energy mix. He noted that much of the hinterland is not connected to the grid and as such, the Government has a responsibility to bridge that gap.

“We can’t leave the hinterland of Guyana and the people who live there, shut off from accessing power. So right now, we’ve ordered over 30,000 solar units that are completed and will go to each of these 30,000 households in the hinterland. They’re not connected to the grid. These are Indigenous and riverine households.”

“We’re now building a series of mini-grids in the larger Indigenous communities. We’re building larger hydro and mini-hydro in some of them. And these are projects that are already either awarded or to be awarded,” Jagdeo said.

Editor: Tusika Martin

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