The Government of Guyana has indicated that it intends to reopen the tender process for the construction of US$700-million Amaila Falls Hydropower station (AFHP), Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said.

China Railway Group Limited (CRGL), was initially selected for the project, but the company was having difficulties honouring its commitment to the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) contract that it signed.

During a Press Conference on Thursday, the Vice President explained that the company had requested to change the BOOT contract’s arrangement to an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract, but the government held firm to its position that if an amicable arrangement cannot be met, the government was willing to re-tender the project.

Mr. Jagdeo could not say when the project will be back out to tender, but he indicated that several new proposals have already been presented to the Government.

“We have several proposals from bi-lateral sources and when you have several proposals, the best way to evaluate is to go to a competitive process, we would have to go to that, we but haven’t launched it as yet but we will have to do that,” the Vice President said.

The Amaila Falls project was expected to commence construction in 2022 and be completed in 2025.

When completed, it is expected to add 165 megawatts (MW) of energy to the national grid.

However, with the delays to get the project underway, the Vice President affirmed that the government would still be moving forward with the project, though the timeline has to be revised.

“So, the Wales project will generate up to 300 MGW power, we believe that when we bring the demand that is met privately to GPL demand and then the growth because of cheaper electricity, which would be by 50% and at some point, in time we would have to look at other projects to come on stream,” the Vice President noted.  

Through the project, the executing company would supply electricity to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. at a cost not exceeding US$0.7737 per kilowatt hour, provide the entire equity required by the project and undertake all the associated risks with the project.

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