Guyana’s new government will seek to add 400 MW of new generation capacity, including hydropower, over the next five years, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said in his inauguration speech.
According to BNamericas, the head of state said: “To stimulate business enterprises, we will reduce the cost of energy by 50% through a mix of hydro, gas, solar and wind.”
Days earlier, during his swearing-in as new public works minister, Bishop Juan Edghill highlighted that the administration will work to supply cheaper electricity.
“We have to be able to provide reliable, renewable and cheap electricity. We have to be able to realize our full potential in converting our gas into fuel onshore for the industrial realization of our country to catapult manufacturing at a cheaper cost,” the government’s Department of Public Information (DPI) quoted the minister as saying.
According to the Guyana Energy Agency, hydropower has four major advantages: it is renewable, it produces negligible amounts of greenhouse gases, it is the least costly way of storing large amounts of energy, and it can easily adjust the amount of electrical energy produced to the amount demanded by consumers. The agency says there are several hydroelectric projects under construction in the country, with 67 potential development sites.
The development of the country’s hydrocarbons sector has provided an economic windfall, Irfaan said. “We are conscious that the proceeds of this bounty must be managed in a transparent way that will assure the people of Guyana that they will be the beneficiaries in a fair and equitable manner,” he said.
The president announced the creation of a petroleum commission “to ensure that the oil and gas sector is not subjected to undue political interference.”
