A long-awaited, independent study of the contentious Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) has given it a positive review but the government yesterday signalled its continuing opposition and used some of the findings by Norconsult to bolster its case.
The government’s stance is likely to put it at odds with Norway which has set aside US$80M from its forest protection deal as Guyana’s equity contribution to the project. The main parties in the governing coalition – APNU and the AFC – have always been opposed to the 165 MW AFHP on various grounds including its US$858.1m price tag. Norway has however appeared to favour the project and after the APNU+AFC government took office in May 2015, the two sides agreed in December 2015 for an “objective and facts-based” assessment of the AFHP for a