Even as it congratulated itself for facilitating the movement from oil discovery to petroleum production in an unprecedented time frame the APNU+AFC coalition is committing to the goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030.
According to the party’s manifesto, which was launched on Friday, if granted a second term they will ensure that there are adequate, accessible and affordable energy supplies during the 10-year transition period.
“We are prepared to reap the benefits of being an oil-producing nation. We have initiated programmes and policies to deliver a developed and diversified energy sector. These initiatives took into consideration the need to ensure energy security,” the document states, adding that the ‘Decade of Development: 2020-2029’ will see accelerated development in the energy sector including the establishment of solar farms in all hinterland ‘capital towns’ and, mini solar farms in indigenous villages.
Other alternative energy plans include a promise of hydro-electric power in Lethem and Mahdia and the provision of resources for renewable energy sources such as solar farms, waste-to energy plants, biomass and wind.
However with Guyana likely to have access to natural gas from ExxonMobil’s Stabroek Block exploration, the incumbent has promised to provide reliable and affordable electricity from associated gas from the Liza-1 project.
Specifically they have promised that establishment of a Natural Gas Terminal, which will also create opportunities for employment and reduce energy costs.
Last week Director of Energy Dr. Mark Bynoe told reporters that the EPA was deepening its engagements on gas-to-shore possibilities with a projection of gas being able to land on Guyana’s shores by 2023.
He noted that so far ExxonMobil has announced that Guyana’s recoverable resource is about eight billion barrels of oil equivalent of which about 2 billion is gas. He stressed that this gas has to be liquefied. Once liquefied it is likely to be approximately 340 billion cubic metres of gas.
“It is still very early days in determining how much gas is there,” Bynoe explained.
Stabroek News has previously reported ExxonMobil’s Country Representative Rod Henson as stating that while the company believes it would be more beneficial monetarily to this country if all the natural gas was used for well injection purposes offshore, government has been in discussions with it to have some of the gas brought onshore for domestic use.
Given Guyana’s “unique” case where the cost of electricity from its current use of fossil fuels is “very high”, Henson noted, the company was working with government to bring a cleaner and cheaper alternative for this country’s domestic use. The amounts required, he said, would be around 30-35 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson has also said that government has begun to prepare the infrastructure for the landing of Natural Gas and has confirmed the landing location and generator type.
Patterson in 2018 had noted that Woodlands, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara had been identified as the location where the pipes will land and explained that government has catered for part of a World Bank US$20M loan to be used to study the bringing of natural gas onshore for local energy needs.
Bynoe has explained that as part of that effort a Natural Gas Specialist is being employed to augment the entity’s technical staff complement.
