Above: IDB headquarters

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Inter-American Development Bank has loaned $5 million to Guyana to help improve the effectiveness of the country’s electricity sector.

The plan aims to implement loss reduction measures and improve Guyana’s electrical distribution network.

According to the IDB, Guyana Power & Light has estimated that more than 50 percent of the losses it experiences can be blamed on shortfall in the country’s 4,000 kilometers of low-voltage network.

Of those, 75 percent need enhancement, according to GPL.

“This new programme will rehabilitate a portion of the distribution network and continue a series of commercial loss reduction actions while financing capacity building and energy conservation activities,” the IDB said in a release. ”

In 2010, almost one-third of the electricity Guyana generated was lost for either commercial or technical reasons, according to the IDB.