A $472 million one megawatt solar farm was commissioned at Lethem, in Region Nine, on Friday.
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Energy Agency, Dr Mahender Sharma, said with the current fuel cost, the solar farm will save approximately $136 million annually.
Dr Sharma also stressed that this will allow the payback period for the project to be only three and a half years.
The project was financed under a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and IDB country representative (ag) Lorena Solorzano Salazar said the fund injected will not only support projects in Lethem, but other communities with approximately 3.5 megawatts of energy in total.
The DPI report said the solar system forms part of the government’s drive to resort to more renewable energy.
During the commissioning ceremony, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, was also reported as saying that the project will significantly reduce the monthly electricity expenses for the over 1,400 households across the town that are receiving service from the farm.
According to the minister, residents there normally pay $80 for kilowatt, which is a higher rate than Georgetown.
This is because the fuel comes from afar, and the transportation price normally increases the energy cost. He emphasised that with the farm now in place, no fuel will have to be utilised for at least five hours daily.
The report added that another 2.2 megawatts of hydropower are also in the pipeline for Region Nine (1.5 megawatts at Kumu, and the 0.7 megawatts in the Moco Moco Village), while government is also advancing works at the hydropower plant at Kato, Region Eight.
Also present at Friday’s commissioning were Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Dr Ajay Mathur; Senior Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados, Dr William Duguid; and Chairman of the Lethem Power Company Board, Roger King.
