Energy mix will add 500 MW into grid by 2024 – President Ali

His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali is confident that by 2024 an additional 500 megawatts (MW) of energy will be added to the electricity grid.

The Head of State pointed this out during his address to the nation on Monday on his Administration’s one-year anniversary.

“[The] energy sector is critical; recognising the importance of energy sufficiency, reliability, affordability and sustainability, your Government has commenced investment in the energy sector, aiming for a new generation capacity of at least 500 MW in the immediate term, with the option to expand this further in the longer term,” the President said.

President Ali add that the highly-anticipated gas-to-shore project terminating at the Wales Development Authority, will see 250 MW of new power generation constructed.

This US$900 million project will utilise natural gas from the Liza One and Liza Two development projects offshore Guyana. The project is being developed in partnership with ExxonMobil, the operator of the lucrative Stabroek Block. It is expected to come on stream by 2024 and with a lifetime of 25 years.

On Wednesday, the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Natural Resources announced vacancies for the positions of Project Manager and Senior Manager of the gas-to-shore project.

The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project is slated to deliver another 160 MW of new power with intent to start construction in 2022 and completion in 2025. Last month, the Office of the Prime Minister announced its search for a partner to develop the project. It has published a request for proposals which outlines two options for the project’s development.

With the first option, Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT), all of the costs of the project up to the commissioning date would be borne by the developer, who would operate the project for a 20-year BOOT period. At the end of the BOOT period, the project would revert to the Government at no cost.

With the second option, Design-Build-Finance (D-B-F), the developer would finance the development of the project up to commissioning date. The Government would take over the project and fulfill the financing repayment obligations, only upon and at satisfactory completion of construction and commissioning.

Solar generating capacity will also be installed to deliver at least 30 MW of power.

“Within individual remote communities and clusters of communities, stand-alone renewable solutions will also be explored, including hydropower and solar power plants as well as stand-alone solar panels. Work in all of these areas have commenced and are at various stages of implementation,” President Ali said.

Notably, the final outcome would see energy cost slashed by at least 50 per cent before the end of 2024.