Mega solar power projects underway as Guyana seeks to meet growing energy demands
According to Dr. Mahender Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Guyana’s energy consumption is increasing, and more solar power plants are coming up in coastal and hinterland areas to fulfill that demand.
Guyana’s peak electricity demand is now around 153 megawatts (MW). However, that need is likely to quadruple in the coming years.
According to Dr. Sharma, one important future solar project is the development of eight utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities in Berbice, Linden, and Essequibo.
“This 33MW will largely feed into the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS),” he explained.
The DBIS is Guyana’s main power grid, which generates electricity using diesel, an environmentally hazardous fossil fuel. It meets around 78 percent of the country’s energy demands.
The new solar farms promise to bring much-needed solar electricity, an environmentally benign source of power, to Guyana’s grid by utilizing US$83.3 million accumulated from Norway to preserve Guyana’s rainforests intact.
Dr. Sharma stated that bids for this project have already been received and are being examined. Contracts for the construction of these farms could be given this year if the government chooses to proceed with any of the bids.
In addition to this project, solar farms will be built in Wakenaam, Leguan, and Mahdia. These developments complement those already underway at Lethem and Bartica. In addition, 19 solar-powered mini-grids will be installed in outlying settlements.
The highly anticipated hinterland solar electrification project for 30,000 houses is set to begin in July.
The first 1,830 solar units for houses have been transported to Guyana and are expected to arrive by July. Subsequent batches are scheduled to be transported in the coming months.
Dr. Sharma stated that once the solar power systems arrive, the GEA will collaborate with residents of the hinterland villages to install them.
However, solar installations are not Guyana’s only source of fresh energy. To meet demand, the government also intends to use offshore natural gas, hydropower, and a small quantity of wind energy.
The GEA is also concerned about the disadvantages of solar energy.
Though solar energy is cleaner and cheaper in the long run, it is dependent on the availability of sunlight and batteries to store the sunlight captured.
