Description

Guyana scored 0.60, ranking it 49th out of 55 Climatescope 2014 nations and 21st among its Latin American and Caribbean peers. The country’s best result was on Clean Energy Investment, Parameter II, thanks to grants received in 2013. It was weakest on Clean Energy Value Chain, Parameter III, due to the lack of renewables-related institutions.

With a GDP of $6.6bn in 2013, the Guyanese economy is mostly driven by commodity exports and extractive activities.

Imported fuels, such as oil and diesel, are used to run 91% of the country’s 173MW generating capacity, with the result that those connected to the grid pay the fifth highest retail electricity rate ($0.32/kWh) in Latin America and the Caribbean. To reduce its reliance on imports it is developing the 165MW Amaila Falls hydro plant, although this is still in the planning stages.

Guyana Power & Light, the state-run vertically integrated monopoly utility, is responsible for electricity transmission and distribution. Private players are allowed to participate in the generation business; for instance, GP&L buys electricity equivalent to 9% of the country’s total installed capacity from a 15MW biomass plant owned by Guyana Sugar Corp (GuySuCo), 10MW of which dispatches power to the grid.