A 3-megawatt solar farm was commissioned in Hampshire, Region Six, and has been hailed as “historic,” which would aid Guyana’s clean energy transition, create local jobs, and strengthen international, regional, and local partnerships.
While delivering the feature address on behalf of President Dr. Irfaan Ali, Prime Minister Brigadier Mark Phillips pointed out that the commissioning of the facility sends a clear signal that Guyana is serious about the transition to cleaner energy sources, as he asked, “If we do not fix energy, how can we fix the climate?”.
“Leadership is not what you claim. Leadership is what you do. Even as our forests perform the work of giants, we still invest, we still act. Climate Change does not wait on anyone,” the Prime Minister underscored.
“This commissioning sends a clear signal not only to our people, but to the Latin American and Caribbean region and the rest of the world,” Prime Minister Phillips added further.
Joining Prime Minister Phillips at the commissioning ceremony was Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.
“This project is part of a very important historic journey”, he said, attributing the achievement to the Government of Guyana’s drive to deliver sustainable energy solutions nationwide.
Dr. Singh recalled that in 2009, then President Bharrat Jagdeo and the then Minister of Environment and International of Norway, Erik Solheim, collaborated to sign a historic agreement between Guyana and Norway.
Norway at the time pledged up to $250 million to Guyana to help conserve its rainforest. Minister Singh lauded the visionary initiative and global thought leadership provided by Guyana and by Jagdeo in particular at the time, as he led the call for Guyana to receive compensation for its standing forest since 2006.
This, he noted, led to the country earning revenue under the original Low Carbon Development Strategy under the partnership with Norway and, more recently, under the LCDS 2030, which was launched by President Ali shortly after he assumed office.
This financing is now supporting the implementation of various climate-friendly initiatives, such as solar farms, which form part of the Government’s policy towards a diversified energy mix and provide cleaner and renewable power countrywide.
“Guyana was providing climate services to the rest of the world free of charge and not being compensated, not earning any revenue for this important service that we were providing and he (then President Jagdeo) articulated and developed this idea in such an incredibly visionary way that had never been articulated at any other point in time anywhere else in the world,” the Minister added, pointing to Guyana now being recognized worldwide for its standing rainforest service.
The solar farm projects also have an impact on the local community in terms of job creation and other initiatives, and this was pointed out by Inter-American Development Bank Resident Representative in Guyana, Lorena Solórzano Salazar, who also delivered remarks at the event.
“31 out of 50 women were trained in solar PV installation and gainfully employed in the first three years of the project execution through Regions Two, Five, Six and Ten. Six persons with disability received training and are already working in GPL, “she explained.
The solar farm project commissioned was done on the sidelines of President Ali’s two-day Cabinet Outreach to Region Six and forms part of the GoG’s/Guyana Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Program (GUYSOL) aimed at diversifying the country’s energy mix – a significant step towards cleaner, renewable power and a resilient energy future for Guyana.
GUYSOL, which falls under the Guyana Power and Light Inc, is funded through a Guyana/Norway partnership to the tune of US$83 million. Under this project, eight solar farms are being constructed to contribute 33 MWp of solar power across the country, with three to be located in Region Six at Hampshire, Prospect and Trafalgar.
