Region 8’s solar farm will see drop in fuel bill, less carbon emissions

Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 October 2022, 15:24 by Denis Chabrol

Prime Minister Mark Phillips (extreme right) witnesses the signing of the contract for the construction of a solar farm at Mahdia by the CEO of the Guyana Energy Agency (centre), a representative of SPECOM and the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister.

The construction of a more than GY$362.4 million solar farm in Mahdia would see more than 2,884 residents getting reliable and efficient electricity supply and reducing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from diesel-powered generators.

Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Dr Mahender Sharma told Demerara Waves Online News that 686kWp Turn-key solar farm would save 309,681 liters of diesel per year and avoid 672 tons of CO2 annually. Carbon emissions are responsible for climate change ranging from extreme weather patterns to floods.

Dr Sharma also calculated that at today’s price of GY$275 per litre, Region 8 would save about GY$85 million annually by not having to burn 1,949 drums of diesel. He, however, noted that the actual amount of money that would be saved would  vary based on the going fuel price. “The project works to displace the existing diesel use and what we want to do is to minimise the amount of fossil fuels we use for that purpose,” he told reporters. At a total PV Capacity of 686.4kWp, Storage of 1500kWh and an average peak area load of 375kW, it is anticipated that about 25% fuel saving is likely in the first 5-7 years of operation.

Government said in a statement that in addition to offsetting 30-65% or more of the annual electricity to the Mahdia mini-grid; the solar farm would have the capacity to supply electricity to the community in excess of  two hours daily without the operation of diesel generators.

The Prime Minister’s office noted that electricity for this community is currently being produced and sold to the residents by Mahdia Power and Light Inc. (MPL) from a 1.5MW Diesel Generation Power Plant; however approx. 67% of the MPL’s expenditure is directed to the purchase of fuel which is transported from Georgetown some 200 kilometres away. “This is an important project for us because a lot of people talk about the digital divide. As a government, we’re committed to also bridging the energy divide,” said Prime Minister Mark Phillips who is responsible for the telecommunications and electricity sectors.

He noted that solar farm, as well as other renewable energy projects, fits into government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

Government said the design, supply and installation of the Turn-Key Solar PV system and its interconnection to Mahdia grid would be done in compliance with the NEC & National Grid Code, in addition to the adherence to all quality assurances, environmental standards and social regulations.

The solar farm would be constructed into two identical subsystems with each faction having a capacity of 343.2kWp of PV Power connected to 375kW of Grid-Power Inverters, and a storage capacity 750kWh Lithium Battery Bank connected to 400kW of Grid Forming Hybrid Inverters which will support off-grid operations and cloud-coverage.

A comprehensive SCADA System would be implemented for reporting and providing remote monitoring.  On completion of the construction of the Turn-key Solar Farm technical training will be provide to MPL Inc. along with the appropriate factory warranties and service tools/spares parts, government said.

The 0.65MW Mahdia solar farm is being financed under the Energy Matrix Diversification and Strengthening of the Department of Energy (EMISDE) programme funded by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with Guyana Energy Agency being responsible for project implantation.

GEA recently commissioned its first mega-scale solar farm at Lethem. The 1MW Solar farm was commissioned on August 5, 2022 and has since avoided the consumption of some 72,711 litres of diesel or about 457 drums.   A 1.5MW solar farm at Bartica is expected to be commissioned during the last quarter of 2022.

In keeping with the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, Government’s programmes between 2021 and 2022 would complete the installation of solar farms at Lethem and Bartica, 28 solar mini-grids, and 29 off-grid locations, totalling 3.415MW of installed capacity, avoiding 3,542 tons of carbon dioxide per year and benefiting some 52,940 persons.

“The government remains committed to realising the objectives and targets of the Low Carbon Development Strategy; particularly investing in clean energy to stimulate future growth and providing affordable, stable and reliable energy to benefit both households and businesses,” government said.