In an effort to bring affordable and clean energy to targeted communities Guyana has signed a US$83.3 million agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) paving the way for investments in eight utility-scale photovoltaic solar projects (PSV).
A statement from the Ministry of Finance, said the agreement was signed under the Guyana Utility Scale Solar Photovoltaic Program (GUYSOL).
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh signed the agreement with the acting IDB Resident Representative, Lorena Solorzano-Salazar.
According to the statement, the US$83.3 million is part of the US$220.8 million earned by Guyana for forest climate services through its partnership with Norway for the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
It said the funds earned from Norway have since been invested in several key adaptations and socio-economic projects identified as part of the LCDS.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips said the program, once implemented, will benefit thousands of people in the country including women in rural areas. He said it will also assist Guyana Power & Light Inc (GPL) in decreasing fossil fuel use and moving to greater use of renewable energy.
“So it is a transformative project for Guyana. We are thankful that the IDB has been working side by side with Guyana to utilize this money that was lying in an account for over six years, and we are thankful for them bringing us to the stage at which we are,” the prime minister added.
Solorzano-Salazar said this operation is framed within the partnership that Guyana had with Norway and will especially take the country to 19 percent renewables of the grid within about three years so this is an important milestone.
“This is in line with a kind of transformative change that is fully aligned with the IDB Vision 2025 and positive impacts of renewables ….and augers well for Guyana.”
The statement said the objective of the program is to support the diversification of Guyana’s energy matrix towards the use of cleaner and renewable energy sources in the electricity generation matrix.
CMC/
