The deadline for the report on a review of the financial model of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) has been extended as Norconsult, the Norwegian company contracted to undertake the task, has asked government for more time.
“We have been advised by Norway last week that the report’s submission is a bit delayed and the review team is working to have it completed as a matter of urgency and within the next few weeks,” Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman said in response to queries from Stabroek News.
“No reason was given for the delay but the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Norway has requested an extension for the completion of the process by Norconsult and we have given our no objection,” he added.
The report, which was due on September 1, is expected to determine whether the controversial project will go ahead.
Guyana and Norway had agreed in Paris, France, in December 2015 to conduct a review of the project’s current financial model, which the government believes could shackle many generations of Guyanese to debt. Both sides also agreed on Norconsult for the undertaking of the analysis.
The two countries are awaiting the study to make a definitive decision on how to proceed. The AFHP was the flagship project of the five-year forests protection partnership between Guyana and Norway in which Guyana could earn up to US$250 million in performance-based payments based on an independent verification of Guyana’s deforestation and forest degradation rates and progress on REDD+ enabling activities.
REDD+ is a global initiative that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
The partnership has been extended so that Guyana can fulfill some of the remaining deliverables.
Norway had transferred US$80 million to the Inter-American Development Bank for the project but the David Granger administration has 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 previously urged the APNU+AFC administration to consider the merits of the AFHP and indicated that Guyana stands to lose the US$80 million earmarked for the project if it fails to come up with a plan for “transformational” renewable energy sources that can be realised in the next few years.
It had strongly supported the project under the previous PPP/C administration.
Subsequently, both sides agreed to a final, independent review of the project.
