It says the longer the power company takes to come to the table, the advent of consistently affordable power would be further delayed.

Mr. Patrick Ketwaru, General Manager of Synergy Holdings Inc., said Tuesday that although the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project is ready to advance and is still very much "in the pipeline", its movement forward is "greatly hampered by GPL's reluctance or inability to begin talks to develop a power purchase agreement".

In a statement, he said the hydroelectric scheme can supply power to GPL, which is currently experiencing serious financial problems, at US$0.068 per kWh for energy.

He noted that the developers were issued with a licence by the Guyana Government to begin construction and were granted an Environmental Permit to commence by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As such, he said, there are no regulatory hurdles to cross.

Ketwaru said, too, that the projected time for construction and commissioning of this 100 MW facility is 30 months.

"However, this project's forward movement is slightly hampered by the sloth (maybe reluctance) of GPL to enter into meaningful negotiations towards a power purchase agreement with the developers," he charged.

He said that without such an agreement, the major equity partners and lending institutions will not release the funds to begin construction.

As such, he claimed, GPL is now directly responsible for the delay of any major hydropower in this country in the near future.

"This is indeed a very sad state of affairs for the future prosperity and energy independence of the nation of Guyana," the Synergy General Manager said.

According to him, Amaila can deliver power to GPL at its Sophia, Georgetown station for US06.8 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) and with GPL still at its 42% loss, this means that for every 100 kWh GPL generates or receives it can only deliver 58 kWh.

"This is due to the fact that they pass on all their generation and certain other expenditures directly to the consumers, regardless of their efficiency," Ketwaru asserted.

He explained that if one were to take the above losses into consideration, for every kWh GPL buys from Amaila, consumers will have to pay an increase by a factor of 1.73.

This means GPL would have to pay Amaila US11.764 cents for every kWh (6.8 x 1.73) delivered to the consumer since it would need to buy 1.74 kWh to deliver one kWh to the consumer due to its system losses, he pointed out.

GPL would now have to add an additional charge to maintain and operate its distribution network and make a profit, he said.

"If we assume that this is US2.5 cents per kWh, then they should bill the consumer a grand total of US14.264 cents per kWh. This at an exchange rate of G$200 to US$1 would mean that the consumers will pay G$28.53 per kWh (which) is much lower than what is currently being asked for by GPL," Ketwaru added.

"Based on the above calculations, I, as a senior member of the developers' management, cannot understand GPL's reluctance to get on board with Amaila."

He said it should be noted that if GPL reduces its system losses, consumers would pay less and it can still make a profit. In addition, after the loan on the facility is repaid by the developers, the cost of power would be reduced significantly since the Amaila project would not have any interest and capital repayment to cover, he said.

In a press statement, Synergy Holdings Inc. noted that it has entered into final negotiations with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on the sale of `carbon credits' from the Amaila Falls hydroelectric plant.

This is in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol on emissions reduction caused by the burning of fossil fuels and leading to global warming, Synergy said.

It noted, too, that currently all the electricity supplied to the grid, Linden and to larger manufacturers such as Omai Gold Mines, is generated by burning oil.

These generating plants produce enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute greatly to global warming, it said.

Synergy said, too, that construction of the Amaila Falls hydroelectric plant on the Kuribrong River in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) will supply all Guyana with power from a renewable source and this will lead to a dramatic reduction of greenhouse gases emission from the diesel generating sets.

"The current generating sets operated by GPL are not only heavy pollution generators but they are also expensive to operate," the company contended.

According to Synergy, "at the current price of oil, the price for electricity in Guyana is one of the highest in the world."

This is a shame, especially since Guyana is blessed with many rivers that can provide hydroelectricity at a very low cost, it added.

The Amaila Falls Hydroelectric plant will be built to initially supply 100 million watts (Megawatts) of power and it is expandable to a much larger size to meet the projected increase in demand for electricity in Guyana, the statement from Synergy said.

"At 100 MW, it is capable of supplying all of the demand on the Demerara-Berbice interconnected grid, Linden and most of Omai's power. The project includes 300 km of double circuit, 230 KV, high voltage transmission lines that will bring the power from the generating site to the coast.

"Conservatively, Amaila Falls will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 500,000 tons per year," Synergy stated.

"Amaila Falls is good for Guyana and we urge the Government and GPL to work towards reducing emissions, clean up the environment and get reliable energy to all Guyanese from a renewable source," it posited.

"By accessing carbon credits on the international market, Synergy will pass on these savings to Guyana by reducing the tariff for electricity, delivered to Georgetown to a projected US$0.068/kWh (G$12.75/kWh).

"This is the projected wholesale price for electricity sold to GPL for distribution to the consumers," Synergy said.

"We look forward to working with all the parties involved to bring clean, lower cost and reliable power to Guyana," the company added.

Synergy Holdings Inc. is a U.S.-based developer and supplier of renewable energy and back-up power systems. (MARK RAMOTAR)