Environmental Authorisation sought for rehab of Tumatumari hydro plant

The Hydroelectric Power General Plant at Tumatumari, Potaro River, Region 8, could be closer to rehabilitation.

This is according to a public notice that was published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stating that the company – Tumatumari Hydro Inc. (THI)—has submitted an application for Environmental Authorisation for the plant’s rehabilitation.

According to the notice, the project will entail the redevelopment, operation and maintenance of the existing Tumatumari Hydroelectric Power Station and will also include replacing of existing hydroelectric generator units and installation of new electro-mechanical/hydraulic controls, instrumentation, protection and switchgear.

The project will also see the re-conducting of the existing power line from Tumatumari to the Sucre Junction and the construction of new power lines from the Sucre Junction to Mahdia, as well as the construction of a new 30 km power line from Tumatumari to the TRG gold mining operations at Karouni.

Lastly, the project will also feature the rehabilitation of a damaged section of concrete gabion spillway and the restoration of sluice gates; which will be remotely controlled and electro-mechanically actuated.

The notice went on to state that in keeping with the Environmental Protection Act No. 11, 1996, Cap. 20:05, Laws of Guyana, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required for the redevelopment of the project before any decision to approve or reject is granted, since the development may have significant impacts on the environment.

As a result, the EPA had invited members of the public to, within 28 days of the notice being published, make written submissions to the agency, setting out questions and matters which they required to be answered or considered in the EIA. Last year June, a similar notice was also published. THI is a private company with a 50-50 partnership between local and regional investors.

Director of THI, Herman Rohlehr, at a forum at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre on July 31, 2015, had disclosed that the company was set to start initial operations in the second half of 2016. “We look forward to having hydroelectric power on a modest scale in place by the end of July of 2016,” he was quoted as saying in a Government Information Agency (GINA) report.

Rohlehr had said THI had negotiated a power purchase agreement with the Mahdia Power and Light (MPL) Limited. The agreement provided for bulk electricity to be sold to MPL, which would in turn retail it to consumers.

GINA had noted that the rehabilitation of the plant was one element of the Tumatumari Industrial Development Project, which was aimed at establishing natural resource-based industrial operations, utilizing existing endowments of water, forest and minerals in Region Eight.

Phase one of the project entails rehabilitation of the hydroelectric plant to deliver 1.5 megawatts of power and the construction of two 30-kilometre power delivery lines, while Phase two will see the facility expanded by the addition of two more 0.75-megawatt turbines. The primary consumers would be from Mahdia and contiguous communities, including Tumatumari and Micobie, and Troy Resources Guyana Gold Mining operations. It has a projected tariff rate of US 18 cents for a kilowatt of power.

Rohlehr had told the forum that the company intended to spend US$5M for the two phases.

He had also stated that the rehabilitation project also catered for an additional 300 consumers in the planned Mahdia housing scheme development, as well as another 80 consumers in adjacent communities along the power line extension, including the Amerindian villages of Micobie and Princeville.

Rohlehr explained that the overarching Tumatumari industrial development project included two other components: Tumatumari Lumber Inc, which would be engaged in the building, drying and finishing of lumber; and a quarry project that would provide for dimension stones, which would be mined, cut and polished into black granite. These operations would be adjacent to the hydroelectric power station, Rohlehr said, while noting that together, their upstream development will bring investment, value-added natural resource based industries, underpinned by cheap and reliable energy.

The hydroelectricity plant at Tumatumari Falls on the Potaro River was the first hydropower station in Guyana and was constructed by British Guiana Consolidated Goldfields Limited to power two large dredges for gold mining there and at Konawaruk in the mid-1950s. It was said that it had an installed capacity of 1500kW and used 2 x 750kW Francis turbines. Following a prolonged workers’ strike, the operations were closed in the early 1960s but put back into use in 1976 by the Guyana National Service to supply power to its administrative centre and other activities. Up to 1987, one turbine functioned. It is 241 feet above sea level. Mon Nov 5, 2018 14:55 - 16:25 hrs Tues Nov 6, 2018 15:30 - 17:00 hrs The opening lasts for 1 1/2 hours