THE Guyana Government yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Delta Caribbean N.V. which grants the Curacao-based company's request for a two-year period of exclusivity to carry out feasibility studies and wind measurements for possible establishment of a wind energy farm here.

The feasibility studies, expected to cost about US$100,000 and to be fully financed by Delta Caribbean, will be done at Hope Beach on the East Coast Demerara and about 40 kilometres from that area in an easterly direction along the coast.

Provided that the feasibility studies prove positive, the company expects to develop a wind energy with a total potential capacity of 7 MW in the first instance.

The electricity generated would be made available to the national grid. Regulatory framework exists for the power to be sold to the grid at the avoided cost of the grid, officials said.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by Prime Minister Sam Hinds; Mr. Joseph O'Lall, Head of the Guyana Energy Agency; and Mr. Roy Kolader, Managing Director of Delta Caribbean. The signing took place in the Office of the Prime Minister in Georgetown.

Mr. Hinds said the Government and people of Guyana look to this step as an important one in diversifying energy sources here.

Kolader, on the other hand, assured the Government that "this product will be viable and within two years we can have a wind farm established along the coast of Guyana."

"We need to look to utilise all the energy sources that we could and there is potential in Guyana for wind energy," Prime Minister Hinds said.

He pointed out that wind has been important in the past, and was utilised in driving ships and windmills.

"We've been using it to a smaller extent in Guyana in the small wind chargers along the coast," he said.

He noted that more recently there have been a number of larger wind stations set up in several places around the world.

"There is potential to the extent that we could set up large scale commercial wind energy farms in Guyana which would be a good thing," Mr. Hinds said.

He projected that this would reduce expenditures on purchasing fuel and will help add to the world's need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other emissions that arise when normal engines are used.

He noted too that the Government was pursuing at various levels, hydropower development in Guyana.

"We have a very active programme to utilise and to enquire into other energy sources in Guyana and to utilise any that is proved to be commercial," he said.

"We are very pleased to enter into this MOU...which enables Delta and gives them enough comfort for them to establish maybe a two-year testing period which will be centred at Hope Beach," he added.

Mr. Hinds noted that the MOU gives Delta the rights to any sites for wind power development from Hope Beach eastwards for 40 kilometres.

He noted too that for the interior areas, where there are many remote Amerindian villages, there has been traditional use of wind power for pumping water.

These are areas that are being looked at for improvement or possible establishment of better windmills, he said.

O'Lall said it is the energy policy of this country to move into all forms of renewable energy. He noted that Guyana was dealing with hydro energy and solar energy and now "the newest boy on the block" - wind.

He recalled when Kolader suggested that wind was now a viable option for the development of the energy sector here.

From that time onwards, Guyana has moved quite a number of steps forward in this regard through Delta Caribbean.

"Today is the culmination of hard work and diligent services by both Mr. Kolader and with guidance from the Prime Minister as to where we are going and how we are going to get there," O'Lall said.

Kolader said that through this development, Guyana can save on foreign exchange for the import of fuel.

Furthermore, he said Guyana will be listed with the countries which help in the reduction of carbon dioxide emission, for example.

"We are grateful to the Guyanese Government for the trust deposited in our company," he said.

"With our experience with development of wind energy projects, we hope to achieve a rapid realisation of this project and for that we need the indispensable support of this very progressive government," he added.

The energy policy of Guyana underscores the Government's policy to encourage and foster the development of renewable energy technologies.

Climatic conditions at a number of locations in Guyana favour the development of renewable power from wind and solar energy, officials said.

Renewable energy projects which can be demonstrated to be economical, have the value of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and limiting Guyana's dependence on fossil fuel, they said.

Kolader, an investor from Curacao with Dutch connections has built a wind farm in Curacao and other places around the world.