Norwegian company to review financial model for hydro-power station
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – A Norwegian company is to review the financial model of the proposed Amaila Falls Hydro-power station, according to an official statement issued here.
“A decision was recently made to utilise Norway’s largest consultancy firm ‘Norconsult’ for this review. With over 50 years of international experience in power generation and energy supply engineering, the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet considered it the best option for an objective reassessment,” according to the Government Information Agency (GINA).
It said this decision follows up on one taken by Guyana and Norway in December last year to conduct a review of the project’s current financial model, which the government believes could shackle many generations of Guyanese to debt.
Guyana’s Finance Minister Winston Jordan has said that going ahead with the current financial model inherited from the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration would be “criminal”.
GINA said the selection of Norconsult followed a shared assessment of consultant companies to conduct a financial model review of the topical Amaila Falls Project, which has been the subject of much debate in both countries.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has maintained that the existing financial mode, including the cost of construction and rate at which power would be sold by the Guyana Power and Light and resold to consumers, would save Guyana billions of dollars annually in fossil fuel sales.
While in opposition, the David Granger-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) had strenuously objected to the project, resulting in investors pulling out from the near US$1-billion initiative because of a lack of political consensus.
Meanwhile Guyana and Norway are preparing for a visit in April 2016 by a Norwegian delegation comprising members from the Ministry of Climate and Environment and Norway’s Development Agency (NORAD).
GINA said the visit is expected to deepen the partnership and collaboration to complete outstanding deliverables of the MoU that the new government inherited.
