GEORGETOWN (GINA) — Given the validity of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project agreement, financial closure, the access road to the facility, and the actual construction of the plant have to be delivered in a timely manner, Head of the Presidential Secretariat said.

The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) is identified under Guyana’s revolutionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) as a transformative initiative that is taking the economy along a pathway to sustainable development through clean energy generation.

The framework agreement was signed on July 15, 2010 by parties to the Amaila Falls Hydro-Plant; the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Sithe Global Amaila Holdings, China Development Bank, and the China Railway First Group.

The agreement had set out among other things, the parties’ intention to reach financial closure within a stipulated time frame.

Closure is anticipated before the end of 2013 and is “integrated” with the other key component, the access road, Dr. Luncheon told reporters today.

The road to the site which requires upgrade of 110 kilometres (km) of new roads coupled with upgrades to 85 km of existing infrastructure, had its fair share of challenges, like the termination of the contract awarded to Fip Motilall from Synergy Holdings for failing to meet contractual obligations.

Considered the flagship of the Government’s medium and long-term strategy for the electricity sector, the hydro project when completed will be the source of 90 percent of the country’s energy needs and will catapult Guyana to the number one position globally for renewable power.

Electricity will be cheap and more reliable for domestic consumers and an asset to the processing and manufacturing sectors that often strive for efficiency. The heavy bill Guyana pays for fuel that is regularly unstable on the world market will be a thing of the past.

The Guyana Power and Light is in the process of constructing a state-of-the-art control centre at Sophia that will allow the company to effectively manage power coming from the proposed Amaila falls hydropower site.

Source: http://news.caribseek.com/