Hydropower plant will be aggressively pursued – JagdeoBy Gary EleazarGuyana simply does not have favourable wind flow to justify the setting up of the intended wind farm at Hope Beach, East Coast Demerara.This is according to Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo during an interactive session with media operatives, yesterday.He emphasized that Guyana would have had to install 11 megawatts of power which when transferred to the national grid would have been reduced to three megawatts. This was a costly exercise given that with renewable energy the initial cost is high.?We don?t have the wind flows that will do wind power justice like some other countries have.?The president said that is why the country opted for a fossil fuel option, which it subsidises. He added that an expected 21 megawatts that is expected to come on stream in September at the Kingston Power PlantAccording to the Guyana Energy Agency?s website, ?The Government of Guyana and DELTA Caribbean N.V, signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) in March 2007 for the construction of a 13.5 MW Wind Farm at Hope Beach, ECD.?The project was supposed to supply power to the grid and was expected to be commissioned in 2010.The executing company on its website had listed the activity to cost some US$26M.As it relates to the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysfan.us@#$%&/]Authentic Jerseys Cheap[/url], the Head of State reminded that the country went out to tender, the bids came in but at the time the investors cited the financial crisis.Jagdeo was adamant however that ?by September we have to get definitive word from the investor?they are doing some additional studies.?He noted that if at that time the investors cannot move forward with the project, ?then the State,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysshare.us@#$%&/]Wholesale NFL Jerseys[/url], because it has spent a bit of money, will inherit all of the documents,[url=http://www.cheapestnfljerseys.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys From China[/url], the drawings, the designs,[url=http://www.wholesalenfljerseyssale.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys From China[/url], the environmental permit and everything else which has taken years to put together.?He said that should that time come ?we will have to see some other source of building, this including using some of the funds that we can get from the Low Carbon Development Strategy?Renewable energy is very important in the long run.??We have to build that hydro one way or another; we have to do it.?The project is based on an initial study that was carried out between the years 1974 and 1976 to explore the hydroelectric potential under a grant from the United Nations.That study was done by Montreal Engineering over the two-year period.A number of sites were identified, but through a shortlist process, these were eventually trimmed to three ?most promising? sites.Further studies by the developer between 1997 and 2001 related to the demand for power, the economics, environmental,[url=http://www.wholesalenfljerseyssale.us@#$%&/]Wholesale Jerseys China[/url], ecological and political impacts of developing each of these sites led to Amaila as the location of choice.In 1998,[url=http://www.cheapestnfljerseys.us@#$%&/]Cheap NFL Jerseys China[/url], Synergy Holdings Inc. joined with Harza Engineering Company (now called MW Harza Global) to fund and perform a detailed feasibility study and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the first Phase of the project.Between 1999 and 2001, a full feasibility study and EIA was carried out on site including surveying, drilling in excess of 400 meters, and several site visits by Harza engineers to evaluate the drill cores and the physical characteristics of the site and to install river gauging equipment downstream of the falls.A man-camp on site and an access road crew in excess of 50 personnel worked on this project for several months. Drilling equipment was flown in by helicopter – supplies came in by river and the ATV access road.Following the on-site investigations and mapping, several alternate designs were looked at and the developers chose a final design that offered the lowest construction cost while maintaining the expandability of the project.The Amaila site is located on the Kuribrong River; a tributary of the Potaro, and the nearest point of access is the airstrip at Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River, approximately 15 miles to the south.An overland trail exists from Kaieteur to Amaila while access is also provided over land by an all-weather road through Tumatumari on the Potaro River and on to Mahdia and KangarumaRiver access along the Potaro-Kuribrong Rivers to the foot of Amaila Falls involves several portages around rapids and waterfalls.The road from Tumatumari was recently extended to Mahdia/Kangaruma that brings you closer to the site but approximately 30 miles of additional roads will need to be built to the top of Amaila Falls.In mid-2005, serious talks were restarted between Synergy,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysshare.us@#$%&/]Wholesale China Jerseys[/url], the Guyana Power and Light Inc. and the government in an attempt to finally put the project on a fast track development schedule.Following a series of meetings with Government, an MOU was signed between the developers and Government on May 23, 2006, outlining their agreement to proceed with the development of the Hydropower plant.The construction process should have commenced in September last when the tender process should have closed but was subsequently extended by President Bharrat Jagdeo, who has publicly committed to building the hydropower station ? estimated to cost approximately US$450M – before he demits office.The fate of the project, at least in the near future, now depends on the extended tender process or should that fail because foreign investment is dwindling, the government commits to building it with taxpayers? dollars.