President Dr. Irfaan Ali has confirmed that the government is currently evaluating proposals for the Amaila Falls hydropower project, a major power generation venture that could help meet Guyana’s growing demand for electricity.
The Amaila Falls project has been long sought after by successive People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) governments. Now, however, President Ali believes the project is one step closer to fruition.
“As soon as that evaluation is completed, I have instructed that we move to negotiate with the best-ranked bidders and give us the best possibility.
“... This is design-build finance, and a power purchase agreement. They have to agree to the terms, the terms that make economic sense for us and would meet the energy costs that we want to deliver to the people of this country,” President Ali said during a recent Fueled interview.
The project is designed to deliver a minimum of 165 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to the national grid. Earlier this year, the government invited proposals from prospective firms or consortia under a revised Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model.
According to the Office of the Prime Minister, proposals will be evaluated based on the lowest power purchase agreement (PPA) price, overall project cost, completion timelines, and the bidder’s ability to secure financing.
Only firms or consortia with demonstrated experience in large-scale hydropower development will be considered. These include experience with building at least three large hydro projects, each at least 100 MW in the last 15 years.
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