0.65 megawatt Mahdia solar farm to be commissioned within a week – PM Phillips
The 0.65 megawatt solar farm at Mahdia, Region Eight will be commissioned shortly, bringing clean and reliable electricity to over 3,000 residents.
Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, made the disclosure during the 89th Sitting of the National Assembly on Wednesday, where over $56 billion in supplementary provisions was approved under the Office of the Prime Minister.
“It is working, we have already worked through all the problems of integration, and that will be commissioned in a week’s time,” he said.
The prime minister further affirmed, “The community is receiving energy from it.”
With the addition of this solar farm to Mahdia’s current micro grid, the township will be benefitting from an estimated total of 2.1 megawatts of power, exceeding its current demand.
The Standby Power Engineering Company (SPECOM) and the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) signed a $362 million contract for the project in October 2022.
The prime minister explained that for every utility in the hinterland, the government’s plan is to ensure that there is a corresponding renewable energy source to cut electricity costs for residents.
Such will be the case with this new solar farm, he assured.
“As we complete that project, we will go through an evaluation process and the necessary reduction in costs will be determined and made available to the people,” he said.
Approximately $51 million has also been set aside for the provision of additional resources for the operations of the Mahdia Power and Light Company. A portion of this sum, over $28 million, will provide for outstanding fuel and equipment costs, as well as the maintenance of generators.
Some $422.87 million will provide for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Kumu hydropower plant, and rehabilitation of the Moco Moco Hydropower plant.
Further, $9.2 million was approved for the expanded work programme under the Disaster Preparedness, Response and Management framework.
This will facilitate the provision of hampers to communities in need, or in the instance of natural disaster.
The PM said that 170 hygiene hampers will be allocated for distribution in hinterland communities, while 600 hampers are set aside for communities on the coast. Each hamper, the prime minister noted, values approximately $10,000.
“What we are doing is procuring and storing so that whenever communities are affected and whenever any community is affected, they will receive hampers. The hampers are there, ready, and whenever a community needs it, they will get it. I can assure you that,” he asserted.