Georgetown : The Coalition Government intends to spend, for renewable energy projects in schools and hinterland hydropower system, the sum of $7.97M. This was revealed in the National Assembly, by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson. This sum has been allocated to the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA).
Examining the imports for petroleum products, Minister Patterson said that just over five million barrels of petroleum-based products were imported in 2015, representing an average of 13,703 barrels per day. He explained that this represents a 1.27% increase when compared to 2014, “Petroleum imports for the year were acquired at a CIF value of US$355.201M, representing a decrease of 36.76% from that of the previous year. Twenty-six percent (26%) or 834,056 barrels (2,285 bpd) of total imports were obtained under the Petro Caribe Agreement during 2015”.
For solar energy, the Minister stated that the GEA has built their capacity for installing PV grid tide system. 1,164 Kw of solar photovoltaic capacity has been installed, producing 2,125 Mwh of energy annually, “The agency would embark on installing additional capacity at its head office and the proposed new towns of Bartica and Mabaruma,” Patterson said.
According to Patterson, the government remains keen in its pursuit of hydropowerand in this regard, meetings have already been held with the Brazilian company, Construtora Queiroz Galvão. This company is interested in continuing its hydropower project here in Guyana in Mazaruni, Region #7.
With regards to wind energy, Minister Patterson said that GEA continued to monitor and record wind data (speed and direction) at four sites. These, he added, are at Port Mourant, Kumu, Mahdia, and the University of Guyana, “GEA also assisted HECI in selection and evaluation of fifteen potential wind sites along Guyana’s coast where the best four will be chosen to carry out wind measurements. Negotiations are continuing with the Guyana Wind Farm Inc,” he said.
The Minister reiterated that the Coalition Government via the Ministry of Public Infrastructure is committed to energy efficiency. He explained that among the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry thus far, are “replacement of 37 high pressure sodium vapour street lamps at a cost of $1.173M; 65 LED street lamps at a cost of $1.468M; and the replacement of 300 defective photo sensors on street lights at $18.2M.”
Under the Fuel Marking Programme, of the 12,227 total site visits conducted during the year, 1,446 sites were sampled at least once. 37 (3%) of the sites sampled at least once were found with significant dilution (defined as more than 50%) in at least one tank.
These sites visits are part of on-going efforts to curb and prosecute those who engage in fuel smuggling. The Minister added that there were 25 joint operations with members of the Task Force on Fuel Smuggling and Contraband, “The Fuel Marking Programme recorded nine (9) convictions in 2015. Five new charges were filed. Two matters were dismissed of which one was appealed,” Patterson informed the House.
He also informed the Assembly that the Guyana Power and Light Company Inc. has had many challenges and a number of complaints in relation to its service delivery, thus initiatives will be undertaken this year, to address these. He said these include the installation of a new Board, which has already been done, “It is expected that there should be an improvement in the management of the Corporation, as well as, the quality of service to its users,” Patterson said, adding, “For 2012 to 2015, GPL’s actual expenditure was US$2,176,229.93. Additionally, for 2016, a number of activities have been budgeted to the sum of G$550M. Among the activities are the rehabilitation of the low voltage distribution network (phase) 2 in regions 4, 5, and 6, to the tune of G$522.310M”.
It was explained that with the increase in the rebate by GPL Inc. from 10% to 15%, residential, commercial, and industrial consumers will benefit from April 1, 2016. For residential consumers, totalling 166,000, the benefit is expected to be $7,000 each. Meanwhile, for commercial consumers, which number at 10,000, and industrial consumers, which number at 7,000, the benefits are expected to be $36,000 each and $1.5M each, respectively. The average saving is $17,000 each. Minister Patterson explained these savings are anticipated to boost productivity.
The Electrification Programme is being supported with a loan of US$5M from the Inter America Development Bank (IDB), hence Minister Patterson stated that this is for the sum of US$64.573. The agreement has three components, he explained, “strengthening GPL’s management capabilities; operational efficiency; and infrastructure investments for loss reduction. This programme will entail a number of activities including, the hiring of a consultancy firm to support GPL to improve performance in key business areas; the development of oversight and accountability mechanism; consultancy to change corporate culture and modernize management; and the acquisition of meters, accessories, and tools for baseline information and monitoring”.
In agreement with the Ministry of Finance, Guyana Power and Light Inc. will now be required to fund some of the expansion works in un-served areas. To this end, Minister Patterson said that during 2016, over 650 house lots will be provided with electricity for the first time at a cost of approximately $70M. Other areas will be examined and implemented during the year.
An update was also provided to the assembly on the activities of the Government Electrical Inspectorate. The GEI is the electrical safety body within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure set up to protect users of electricity against the hazard of unsafe and unsound electrical installation. For 2015, the Minister said that GEI’s revenue was recorded at $6.683M and nearly 13,000 jobs out of 13,043 inspected jobs were certified, “Additionally, GEI issued 491 contractor licences; of these, 65 were new issuances; 17 were replacements; and 409 were renewed licences. Additionally, electrical maintenance was carried out on the Ministry’s Buildings in 2015 and totalled $8.250M”.
In closing his presentation on the energy sector, Minister Patterson said the Government Electrical Inspectorate is requested by the Guyana Fire Service to carry out investigations on the cause of fires that occurred throughout the country, and to produce a report on the cause of such fires, “Nine cases of fires were investigated by the GEI for the year 2015”.
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