By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

Guyana has been one of the Caribbean’s green energy pioneers in recent years, with a number of high-profile projects most notably in solar.

Now the country has added another sustainable project to its portfolio: the installation of a 300 Kilowatt hydropower plant in Guyana’s Kato Region 8.

The project was announced by Horace Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Hinterland Electrification Company Incorporated.

Williams said the plant “is a key project that we are pursuing to supply mainly government buildings including the new secondary school at Kato, and we expect to also build a transmission line from Kato to the neighboring Paramakatoi village to supply energy to community buildings there as well.”

The plant will be powered by the Chiung River.

“We want to see this project come to fruition because we have been trying for a number of years to actually establish this hydropower facility at Kato without success, so we are hoping that we succeed this time in implementing such a project,” said Williams.

The community is currently powered by 65kw solar panels and small diesel generators.

The establishment of the hydropower plant will supply public buildings with 24 hours of electricity, thereby acting as a significant benefit to the community.

The CEO is also encouraging local companies to partner with experienced foreign companies to work towards similar projects in the future.