As Guyana’s private sector calls for the implementation of power purchasing agreement (PPA) legislation here that would cater to individual homes moving to solar and supplying the grid, the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) has voiced its support for such a move.
“It is something that is trending across the Caribbean. With the effectiveness in supply and cost, we see it as a natural progression. And to have a proper enabling legislative policy framework is certainly a desirable thing. Oh, we absolutely support it,” Head of CARILEC Dr Cletus Bertin told Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.
CARILEC this year changed its membership structure to cater for a dedicated category for Independent Power Producers (IPPs), such as companies generating for their own operations, and Bertin said that it supports a plan where individuals can also generate their own renewable energy and sell that to the country’s grid.
Only last week, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer announced that the private sector body had developed a strategic policy plan for Guyana’s development. It includes a blueprint for the development of the energy sector, and, among the recommendations, are that there be “implementation of PPA legislation to allow for purchase from independent producers.”
Deygoo-Boyer told this newspaper that CARILEC is targeting companies that produce at least five per cent of the country’s total energy demand to join the organisation and said that the GCCI sees it as a great initiative but separately wants this country to incentivise solar or wind energy for homeowners.
“It is a great plan but only caters for the big companies. We would like to see everyone benefitting. Right now, solar, as a product for most households, is not affordable because there can’t be any grid tie. So households have to purchase storage batteries because legally, whatever power they generate they cannot sell that back into the grid,” he explained.
“When you install solar…what makes that feasible is being able to sell power back to the grid. Take a typical household, most energy use is in the night and during the day, they produce the energy. But they won’t get paid for that power generation because they cannot sell it. It is for that reason that we need this legislation. For households, if they did solar with grid tie, and [that would] make it more affordable, they would get their savings from selling back to the grid. You can get a huge increase in the number of households doing this in the city and perhaps the country, and you see the economic benefits,” he added.
He explained that GCCI’s recommendation was based on studies of other countries and they all show that it is economically sound and environmentally better.
“If you look at other countries, say Columbia for example, there is two parts there [that] make this feasible: you have to make sure your grid can take this on – if you are putting on a lot of panels, it has to be regulated; and there has to be investment into the national grid. There are other countries that have done this for smaller households. They [CARILEC] are speaking about the larger manufacturing companies but we are also looking at smaller households. Why should we not make solar widespread? The first step starts with legislation, then investment into the grid,” he said.
‘Keep up or be left behind’
Bertin agreed with Deygoo-Boyer and pointed out that in addition to moving to renewables, the initial focus has to be on ensuring that the grid is stable and reliable.
Guyana’s power company, Guyana Power and Light (GPL), has oftentimes bemoaned the current state of the grid and has said that it is working to remedy it. With hundreds of power outages this year alone, GPL has said that it needs funds to begin fixing the situation and will invest heavily in upgrading the grid.
“Grid stability and operations has to also be priority. We have to ensure that grid operations [are] stable and reliable. But there has to be a robust policy plan and the legislative and regulatory framework [must] be driven by that policy. The government sets your targets where you incentivise certain investments and so on…,” Bertin said.
He noted that CARILEC has been engaging with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to develop a legislative and policy framework that countries can use as a model for the transitioning of their energy supply to greener, cleaner sources.
He told this newspaper that as the world transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy forms, the Caribbean has to keep up with the changes or be left behind.
He said the realities are that the global energy landscape is changing towards renewables and alternative sources of energy and that is why CARILEC would like to see not just Guyana but all members prepared to meet those changes. “Not just Guyana but CARILEC itself has to evolve in that manner so we are at the cutting edge of that change,” he said.
“The reality is that there [have] been changes to the energy landscape and markets over the last decade and we all know that the world is moving towards cleaner and greener forms of energy. There are many alternative sources and with the increasing advent of business models to respond to the change in technology and energy type, [that] demands we have to be strategic,” Bertin added.
It is for this reason that CARILEC, in 2019, sought to have an additional category dedicated to IPPs. “Our strategic plan is from 2018 to 2022. Coming out of that decision, we formalised it in the bylaws of the organisation, so we are governed by the bylaws… This year, the amended bylaws were ratified. It is official and we have the new membership category for Independent Power Producers and there is a place [on] our Board for members,” he said.
“The change was strategic in keeping with the regulatory space and the imperatives of climate change and mitigation. So for us…we had completed the plan in 2018 and from then we worked on revising the bylaws so it won’t be just fluff or PR [Public Relations]. We wanted it to be sustainable and [it] is enshrined in our paperwork,” he said.
Already, six companies, which were previously in other membership categories, are now a part of the distinct IPPs category in CARILEC and the body is hoping for others to join.
“We will also be reaching out to other IPPs in other countries and we don’t know about the laws in your country but for us, to become a member they should have long term PPA with a utility member and generate at least five megawatts or five per cent of the generation capacity of the country,” he said.
Legal constraints here restrict GPL from purchasing electricity from IPPs but the utility has said that it is working with government to find a solution.
