Opposition may forge ahead with Amaila Falls Hydropower project if it wins elections
Tuesday, 17 March 2015 – By Denis Scott Chabrol -Demerara Waves
Amaila Falls Hydro Dam
Presidential candidate for the opposition coalition, David Granger on Tuesday said his “green energy” strategy could incorporate the current government’s proposed Amaila Falls Hydropower Project that his party had up to recently rejected on grounds of transparency and feasibility.
Granger’s APNU early last year blocked the construction of the US$840 million Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant by refusing to give parliamentary support for the project’s Bill in the National Assembly, citing concerns about feasibility, financing of the project and the lack of assurance that the final cost of power to the consumer would be considerably lower than existing tariffs .
Addressing businesspersons and Western diplomats at the event organized to hear from the two leading presidential candidates, Granger stressed that APNU was not opposed to hydroelectricity but was in favour of a transparent project.
Incumbent President, Donald Ramotar is expected to address another GMSA-organised luncheon on April 22.
Granger told the private sector players that if he wins the May 11, 2015 general and regional elections, his administration would take steps to revive the Chinese-built Moco-Moco hydropower plant and reduce the Rupununi’s dependency on expensive diesel-powered electricity that does not serve outlying communities like Moco-Moco. The project failed due to the collapse of pipelined as a result of soil instability. Plans are also on the drawing board to resuscitate the Tumatumari Hydropower plant that could serve Mahdia. The Opposition Leader said steps would be taken to harness wind and solar power sources including the establishment of solar farms rather than hand out solar panels to Amerindian communities.
He promised to ensure that regulatory agencies like those in the natural resources sector are professionalized, a level playing field for local and foreign investors and the reduction of taxes. “Taxes are too high, unbearably high, too difficult, too cumbersome to administer, too many waivers, too many loopholes. Taxation is too burdensome a business and too burdensome on the poor and these heavy burdens encourage graft and corruption,” he told attendees who included the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Kurshid Sattaur.
The Opposition Leader said if elected to office his administration would put steps in place to stimulate agro-processing and diversify the economy away from sugar, rice, timber, gold, bauxite and fish. Emphasis, he said, would be placed on economic diplomacy to facilitate more exports.
Plans are also in train, he said, to repair the “broken education system” by establishing technical institutes in every region and ensuring that the University of Guyana produces a “five star” quality education. He also restated that measures would be put in place to address crime, corruption, provide boat ambulances and build road-links across the interior.
Comments
Sorry….hydro power is not the ‘future’…..
Solar wind wave ‘nuclear’ are.
Just for info there is a hydro dam in Guyana east Venezuela
that is almost ‘obsolete’ today…..why ?
Its over/under capacity due to season climate change.
Flooding in areas before dam the issue.
The money will be better spent in subsidies to solar/win/wave….not nuclear.
Let’s hope commonsense prevail.
In my area in southern spain alpujaras solar farms are being installed to supply the towns and villages with electricity. ..financed by local government.
All new houses must include solar power.
My homestead is 100% solar….hot water also solar.
10 years ago installation is still in operation.
Cost of batteries and panels have doubled.
No regrets.
My experience of a decade ‘gratis’ …got my sums right.
Sir kamtan lord of cherin alpujaras Spain by appointment of HRH QE2 ukplc
http://www.recgroup.com/en/tech/the-future-of-solar/
Sir Kamptan, thanks for mentioning your experience. I often wonder who is advising Guyanese politicians and whether they can make themselves available on a forum like this simply to deal with scientific and financial issues. Africa seems to be going solar in a big way. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31503424 I doubt whether the politicians can talk sensibly on their own about energy trends.
Industrial Wind Farms: http://turbinesonfire.org/
Disadvantages of Nuclear Power: http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Disadvantages_NuclearEnergy.php
Ok then ‘solar’.
Every ‘shack’ ‘tent’ ‘caravan’ whatever should have solar energy for their
future energy source…..
Legislation and local government must make it compulsory in any new home
being built…no planning permission !
Subsidies should be offered to manufacturers of solar panels…
or ‘made in China’ ..jobs lost !
My panels were manufactured in Spain have been in operation for over a decade…my batteries also. My invertor and regulator ‘made in China’
that worries me….! Seeing the fires on your attachments…
Commonsense must prevail when choosing energy source in future.
We learn from our mistakes…in life and death…fools repeat them…
My spin
Kamtan
de Castro: Find a way to shut down your system when you are away for an extended period of time. You should have a main switch for cutting the power.
Comrade
Thanks ….I just disconnect my panels as am not connected to a supply grid.
In UK most solar installations are connected to grid so any excess elec
produced is fed back into grid for credit to electricity bill….at same rate
charged may add.
UK limited sunshine means more panels less storage.Spain is more storage
less panels. Panels are twice price of batteries……
There is a ‘cut off’ switch fom panels to batteries when batteries are fully charged.
Scientists are already experimenting with a silicone paint which can collect
solar energy on rooftops….solar is certainly the future ! Batteries are also
in scientific research….mobile revolution.
Let’s see how long it before it becomes reality.
Que Sera
Thinker
That’s why my daughter is a consultant …..she advises but the politicians
decide…
BOE (bank of england) uk s central bank (now Canadian governor)
has not one but 8 economists on their monetary policy board…
To decide on whether to ‘up or lower’ interest rates….
Ironically its has been at .5% for over 2 years now….what a waste of taxpayers money……shall I continue !
Politricks my friend
Sir kamtan lord of cherin Granada by apt of HRH QE2 UKPLC
Dear 5 Min. Forecast Reader,
The window of danger has passed: Europe did not suffer an epic blackout today.
You didn’t hear about that one? Well, maybe you did hear there’s a solar eclipse today. For Europe, it’s the first significant one since 2003.
In the 12 years since, solar power has grown by leaps and bounds. Solar now makes up 6% of power consumption in Germany, the continent’s biggest economy.
So a 2½-hour eclipse in the middle of the day threatened to have the same effect as 20 nuclear power reactors suddenly being knocked offline.
In the end, though, the grid held up. “The initial 13 gigawatts (GW) drop in Germany was less than operators had feared,” reports Reuters, “and they were able to draw on alternative power sources including coal, gas, biogas and hydroelectric energy pumped from storage.”
“I think this year could be solar’s biggest yet,” says our Byron King, turning to the investment possibilities.
“The U.S. government has given solar energy developers a 30% investment tax credit since 2006. But until late 2013, big customers didn’t bite.
“Recent technological improvements and market forces have made solar technology attractive to many businesses and markets for the first time. I’m not talking about the die-hard environmentalists, nor even the convinced conservationists. I’m talking about hard-nosed businesses that need energy and don’t want to spend a lot of money on it.”
Byron points to Google — which has taken a $300 million stake in the residential solar space. And Apple just committed $850 million to run all of the company’s real estate off solar. “Thanks to businesses like these and more,” he says, “the U.S. solar industry grew by 30% in 2014.
“Experts expect the U.S. to use 29% more solar by 2020. That doesn’t even touch on overseas demand, which should gain 28% in Asia and 7% in the rest of the world over the same period.”
There’s a solar ETF, the Guggenheim Solar ETF — whose managers had the foresight to grab the ticker symbol TAN. Greg Guenthner of our trading desk has had his readers jump in and out of it the last couple of years.
Now it might be something worth holding longer term. It has a total of 30 stocks. About 40% of the portfolio is in the United States, another 40% in China and Hong Kong, with the remaining 20% in Europe and Canada.
Roof of commercial buildings in France: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/20/france-decrees-new-rooftops-must-be-covered-in-plants-or-solar-panels
Some information on solar panels from Mars: http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/03/21/how-is-mars-rover-opportunity-still-alive/