Government has invited bids from eligible bidders to supply wind measuring equipment including anemometers, wind vanes, data loggers and masts.
In an ad in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek, the government said that it has received financing from the Inter-American Deve-lopment Bank (IDB) for the Sustainable Energy Programme for Guyana and intends to apply part of the proceeds to payments for the supply of wind measuring equipment.
The US$6.2 million project has been in the pipeline since 2013. The general objective of the programme is to improve institutional capacities of the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), through the training of the institutions’ staff and promotion of the use of Renewable Energy Technology (RETs) in the urban areas and the hinterlands with the aim to implement sustainable business models for operation and maintenance of Renewable Energy (RE) projects; increase quality energy access in Guyana; reduce the long term operational costs of on-grid and off-grid electricity service; and contribute to sector sustainability and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Component 1 of the project relates to the strengthening of the policy and institutional framework to implement RETs in Guyana. The specific objective of this component is to develop a national renewable energy strategy as an action plan, to promote the implementation of RETs under the low-carbon development strategy (LCDS), including the revision of the existing regulatory framework.
The strategy will promote the introduction of RETs to deliver electricity to the grid areas and the Hinterlands under public (via GPL), private (via Independent Power Producers and/or self-supply) and community based business modalities.
The specific objective of Component II, the strengthening of the power utility capabilities to improve electricity supply and promote the use of RETs, is to develop the technical capacity and expertise of professionals from GPL and representatives from hinterland communities for the planning, design, installation, and operation and maintenance of RE projects. Component II will be funded with the Programme’s resources, to create the necessary technical expertise in GPL and contribute to its financial recovery and operational improvement, vis-à-vis the LCDS.
In addition, under this component, the procurement and installation of wind measuring equipment to collect high-quality, long-term data to assess the wind resource potential in Guyana will be done. Component II will also support hydrological measurements for future hydro projects as well as performance data from solar-PV systems. Subsequently, the acquired data will be analyzed and made available to public and private stakeholders, including private project developers.
Component III relates to contributing to sector sustainability with the implementation of cost effective RETs for on-grid and off-grid electricity generation. The specific objective of Component III is to implement RE pilot projects and demonstrate the technical, social, economic, financial and environmental sustainability of selected on-grid and off-grid RETs, through the implementation of pilot investments, such as wind energy, solar-PV and small hydropower.
In addition, these pilot investments will provide the evidence that would give the grounds to proposals for amendments to the institutional and regulatory framework. “At the end of the program, pilot projects in the coastal zone can expectedly interconnect to the grid on a commercial basis and provide electricity at a competitive price. With respect to rural electrification, the Program will prepare and test sustainable business models for ownership, operation and maintenance and address the current technical, institutional and capacity barriers,” the IDB says.
