Hope wind energy company hosting meetings on environmental impact findings

Hope Energy Development (HED) Inc. is inviting interested persons to attend public disclosures on the results of the Hope Wind Farm Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The EIA was prepared by Engineering Consultants Limited, a company based in Trinidad, and was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this month.

According to a public notice issued by the company, the first meeting will be held on June 23rd at the Ann’s Grove Neighbourhood Democratic Council sub-office on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) from 5 pm to 6.30 pm while a virtual Zoom meeting will be held on June 25th, from 10 am to 11.30 am. (The webinar ID is: 910 4972 7246).

“Join us to learn more about the results of the Hope Wind Farm EIA. Engage in the discussion on what the wind farm means to you and your community,” the notice said. Persons can email HopeWindsFarm.EIA@gmail.com with their contact details to obtain the Zoom link. Comments or suggestions can also be sent to the same email.

HED submitted an application for an Environmental Permit for the construction and operation of the Hope Wind Farm on the 21st September, 2018.

The project proposes the construction of four wind turbines along the coast at Hope Beach, ECD, outboard of the Lowland/Hope to Ann’s Grove Villages and two additional wind turbines in the Chapman’s Grove area, 2 km further to the south east of Hope Beach. The proposed Hope Wind Farm would be the first large scale wind energy facility to be constructed in Guyana. The base-case scenario calls for six wind turbines, each at 4.2 MW capacity, for a total 25.2 MW wind farm capacity.

The proposed wind farm is expected to annually generate over 50 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, which will be delivered to GPL’s grid and will lessen Guyana’s reliance on fossil fuels for power generation, reducing the emission of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. The project will cost an estimated US$35 million.

The project is not expected to hamper the mangroves growth in the area, as the turbines will be constructed on a large swathe of grass not too far from the shore, and will be constructed at least 1,000 feet from the nearest houses, which manager Johan Sydow said is following World Bank guidelines on how to position turbines with communities nearby.

In 2015, the then government had approved the detailed examination of a proposal by the Guyana Wind Farm Inc. (GWF) for a 26 MW wind energy plant on the East Coast of Demerara.

However, Lloyd Singh, one of the investors from the GWF, had explained that the project was forced to scale down from its initial 26 MW to about 13 MW, because of the Hope Canal and Hope Primary School being built around the demarcated area for the project. “The project must be environmentally safe in terms of noise, shadow flickering and we are now working those out to see the size of the turbines and the government how much electricity they will purchase from us,” he had said.

He had also pointed out that the substation at Coldingen was only capable of taking about 10 megawatts, and as a result, power would have to be distributed directly to the Sophia substations, which would be an additional cost.

On signing the Power Purchase Agreement, Singh said that the project will take approximately nine months to complete. “My only concern is that if we want green energy certain agencies like GEA [Guyana Energy Agency] have to come together because everybody wants to do it the right way,” he had noted.

In a letter to Stabroek News in June, 2014, then Prime Minister Sam Hinds, who had responsibility for energy, had said GWF had put forward a very attractive proposal that could see Goldwind of China, rated at least third in the world in the establishment of wind farms, setting up a 10×2.5 MW wind farm at Hope Beach at a total cost of about US$42 million.

Goldwind would provide 75% of total financing and take 51% of the equity share. Hinds said that he was informed that a financing arrangement was made with Republic Bank for a loan of US$2 million in June of last year.

Hinds did not indicate specifically why a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between GWF and the government had yet to be signed but noted that there were issues that needed to be determined.

“I would like to see an agreement that won’t later create ambiguity to the different sides and so on,” he had said, while hinting that there may be issues with the Power Purchase Agreement that would need to be comprehensively worked out before any agreement was signed.”

The wind farm would align with growing calls for green, renewable sources of energy here.