Government is in talks with Norway to fund a new study to help make a definitive decision on the Amaila Falls hydropower project, Finance Minister Winston Jordan announced on Wednesday.
“I wish to announce that the government is in discussions with Norway to procure yet another review of this project. Norway seems keen to finance an independent review to, once and for all, pronounce on the viability of the project,” Jordan said in his address on Wednesday night at the Guyana Manu-facturing and Services Association’s annual dinner and awards.
Norway recently urged the APNU+AFC administration to consider the merits of the project, since Guyana stands to lose over $16 billion previously earmarked for it if it fails to come up with a plan for “transformational” renewable energy sources that can be realised in the next few years.
“The merits of the Amaila Falls project should be considered by the Government of Guyana. Norway is a strong supporter of transforming Guyana’s energy sector and significantly reducing energy-related emissions. We see this as a fundamental part of the Guyana-Norway partnership,” Director of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative Per Fedrik Pharo had told Stabroek News.
He said setting the direction for Guyana’s energy future is up to government but urged, as part of that process, “a comprehensive, facts-based revision of the Amaila Falls project by the Government of Guyana, so as to establish a proper basis for any decision.”
Government’s decision comes just over week after Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo rejected the Finance Minister’s profit and loss calculations for the project. In his national budget speech in August, Jordan had dismissed the project based on what he said had been an assessment by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Jagdeo, however, called on the David Granger administration to join in a “conversation” on the feasibility of the project.
“Finance Minister Winston Jordan is wrong when he says that Amaila Falls will cost GPL [Guyana Power and Light Inc.] US$2.6 billion over 20 years–in fact, it will save GPL US$2 billion, or GY$400 billion, over 20 years; the Government is wrong when they say that the IDB agrees with their plans to shelve Amaila Falls.
Accessing affordable electricity is the right of all Guyanese–they should not become victims of political vindictiveness on the part of the government,” Jagdeo stated.
On Wednesday night, however, Jordan underscored the need for cheap and reliable energy and announced that the IDB would be studying Amaila Falls among five potential hydro-power sites.
“Let me assure you that your government is committed to providing cheap and reliable energy, goal number 7 of the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]. We are involved currently with the IDB to study the correct energy matrix and energy mix for Guyana to meet our needs for the next 30 years. This study is due early next year and it will include the analysis of five hydro sites, including the Amaila site as well,” he said.
The David Granger administration had said that as currently configured, “it would not only be irresponsible, but a downright criminal act of deception,” if government proceeded with Amaila.
Norway had strongly supported the project, which was the flagship project of the previous PPP/C administration’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS,) and was envisioned to deliver a steady source of affordable, reliable, clean and renewable energy. The project was supposed to eliminate at least 92% of Guyana’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and it was said that this would likely make Guyana the world’s number one user of renewable energy by 2017.
