Mabaruma solar farm to be operational in 2018
DPI, GUYANA, Monday, November 27, 2017
Guyana’s first ever solar farm in Mabaruma will be operational in 2018, and feasibility studies for the establishment of similar facilities at Port Kaituma and Bartica have commenced.
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan during his Budget 2018 presentation.
This was highlighted by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan during his presentation of the 2018 Budget today in the National Assembly.
A sum of $264M was allocated, in 2016, for work on the Mabaruma Solar Farm which was awarded to the German Company, MICO GROUP. To date, the company has already begun to procure equipment to begin construction. For the project to become a reality, a network upgrade at Mabaruma and an extension to connect the solar farm will be undertaken.
Residents in Mabaruma are supplied daily, with five hours of electricity from 17:00hrs to 22:00hrs from the Mabaruma Power Company.
Further, government buildings, including ministries, schools and health centres are also being outfitted with solar photovoltaic panels to reduce government’s dependence on the national grid, Minister Jordan stated.
“To date, 70 buildings have been equipped with such panels resulting in a 1.86 gigawatt of power savings. In 2018, another 74 buildings will be outfitted”, he outlined.
According to the Finance Minister, thus far 46 buildings have been outfitted with 10,427 light-emitting diode (LED) lamps and 3,766 motion sensors. In 2018 emphasis will be placed on installing an additional 10,610 lamps and 1,486 motion sensors.
By: Ranetta La Fleur