Promises, Promises, Promises...... All After 22 Years..... SMH. Re: Hydroelectricity in Region 7… Also, According To This News Article, PM Hinds leads continuing stakeholder consultations in villages PRE-FEASIBILITY studies to determine the potential for hydropower production in the Middle and Upper Mazaruni in Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) will begin next month and continue for one year.The surveys, to cost US$45M, will be undertaken by a Brazilian consortium at its own expense and, on the completion, would be followed by a feasibility study to last another year. The two undertakings will determine the possibility of the development of one hydropower station with an installed capacity of 3,000 megawatts (mw) in the Upper Mazaruni and one more with installed capacity of 1,500 mw in the Middle Mazaruni, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds disclosed at a media briefing on Monday. If feasible, both stations will sell electricity to Brazil. Meanwhile, engineering designs for a Linden to Lethem road, costing US$10M, are also to be done. Funding for the designing of the road has not yet been secured but is expected to come from Brazilian sources. The projects fall under the aegis of the bilateral cooperation with Brazil on the development of infrastructure in Guyana. Briefing team Mr. Hinds, who has responsibility for energy, was part of the briefing team, comprising Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai, Ambassador to Brazil Elisabeth Harper, Dr. Mohendra Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Authority (GEA) and Rodrigo Oliveira, Director of the Mazaruni Project Consortium. The Prime Minister said he had led a group, on March 19, who briefed representatives of the political parties in Parliament, the Private Sector and executives of the National Toshaos Council on the developments. From March 20 through March 22, he led a team who outlined the projects to communities of Waramadong, Kamarang, Jawalla, Kako and Imbaimadai, mainly villages in Region 7 which are near the site of the proposed schemes. Hinds said he would also lead another team to other communities in Region 7 on March 27, in a continuing programme to tell stakeholders about the undertakings and get their inputs for discussions on cooperation between the Governments of Guyana and Brazil. During the media engagement this week Monday, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett pointed out that Brazil, which is the sixth largest economy in the world, is fast growing and is willing to buy additional energy from anyone who is willing to sell. Selling electricity She said:”So we are looking at selling electricity to Brazil. Sell electricity just like how we sell other products such as rice, bauxite and sugar. The trade off is that we will obtain revenue from these sales and satisfy our own needs for additional energy as well.” Rodrigues-Birkett said the desired end is that, once the hydropower projects are feasible, the consortium will be able to obtain a contract from the Brazilian Government to supply energy to Brazil and get the projects going. The construction of the road from Lethem to Linden will be tied to the feasibility of the projects, she explained. It is envisaged that the consortium will be able to obtain financing for the projects from a rapidly growing Bank of Brazil which, in 2011 had US$369.7 billion in assets compared to, for example, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which had US$89.4 billion. Prime Minister Hinds emphasised that the consortium will construct the hydro projects at its own expense. “Guyana will not be undertaking any debt with respect to those projects. But we are now looking at models that can be utilised for a mutually beneficial arrangement,” he stated. Hinds said, during the stakeholder briefings held to date in Region 7, communities had expressed concerns that the area will be flooded as was planned in the first Upper Mazaruni Hydroelectric scheme conceived in the 1970s. However, he said:”We informed these communities that, with the advancement of technology, there is a totally different approach to this project. The flood area of this project, if found feasible, will be less than 10 percent of that planned in the 1970s.” ”This Government would not pursue the construction of any hydroproject which would involve extensive flooding as the one envisaged in the 1970s,” he assured. River behaviour Oliveira said the twelve month long pre-feasibility studies will comprise hydrological and topographical analyses which would include measuring and graphing river behaviour for the duration throughout the different seasons, assessing the possible environmental impact on local communities and vegetation and aerial topography, including the contour lines of the waterways. Minister Rodrigues gave the assurance that Government will carry out another and more extensive round of consultations with stakeholders, if the studies find the projects possible. Ambassador Harper chairs the Guyana side of the Joint Guyana/Brazil Commission for the development of local infrastructure projects.... guyanachronicle/hydroelectricity-in-region-7/ Re: IBM SmartCloud for Social Business Social Networking & Collaboration ibm/cloud-computing/social/us/en/
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 05:45:29 +0000
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