Dear Editor,
GPL’s recent explanation that the continuing blackouts are being driven, in part, by Guyanese using more air-conditioning, fans and lights should prompt a larger discussion about how we respond to growing electricity demand.
As Guyana develops, electricity consumption will increase. More families will buy air-conditioners and appliances, more homes will be built, and more businesses will open and expand. This should not simply be viewed as irresponsible consumption. It is also the natural consequence of economic growth, rising incomes and improving standards of living.
The answer cannot simply be to ask Guyanese to consume less electricity. We should also be asking how we can help Guyanese produce more of it.
Government has already taken some important steps. Guyana has a grid-connected solar programme, net billing, and a mechanism through which consumers can feed excess solar electricity into GPL’s network. The Guyana Energy Agency is also assisting consumers with technical guidance, approvals and financing.
These are positive developments. But the biggest obstacle remains the initial cost of installing solar.
I believe the next step should be the establishment of a One Guyana Solar Project, a national programme providing direct grants to households and businesses to install grid-connected rooftop solar systems.
This should not be another loan programme. A loan may make solar more affordable for some, but it still creates another monthly financial obligation and excludes many households that could otherwise contribute to the country’s generating capacity.
Instead, Government could provide qualifying households and businesses with grants covering all or a substantial portion of an approved solar installation. But this would not simply be Government giving away solar systems. There would be a return to the country for that public investment.
During the day, a household or business would use electricity produced by its solar system, reducing the amount of power it requires from GPL. Whenever the system produces more than the property consumes, the excess would automatically be fed into GPL’s grid through a bidirectional meter.
In exchange for the grant, the participant would receive no payment for that excess electricity for an agreed period or until an agreed amount of electricity had been supplied to the grid.
In effect, the recipient repays the public investment not with money, but with electricity.
Once that obligation is satisfied, the system could transition to the normal arrangements for privately owned grid-connected solar.
The precise grant levels, system sizes, eligibility requirements and energy-return obligations can be fleshed out by Government, GPL, GEA and the appropriate technical experts. The underlying principle is simple:
Government provides the capital. Citizens provide their rooftops. Solar provides the energy. GPL receives the excess power.
The programme could accommodate different categories of participants. Lower-income households could receive greater assistance, while businesses could participate under a separate grant structure. Commercial buildings, supermarkets, warehouses and factories with large roof areas represent an especially significant opportunity for distributed generation.
Appropriate safeguards would naturally be required. Systems should meet GEA and GPL standards, use approved equipment and qualified installers, and be inspected and commissioned before grant funds are released.
Importantly, this does not require reinventing the wheel. Much of the institutional framework already exists. The proposal is about taking what Government and GEA have already started and expanding its reach.
Consider the potential scale. If just 20,000 Guyanese homes installed an average of 5 kWp of solar, that would represent 100 MWp of distributed solar capacity. That is before considering businesses, supermarkets, schools, factories and warehouses.
Government would therefore not simply be subsidising people’s electricity bills. It would be investing public money in distributed national generating infrastructure.
Every unit of solar electricity consumed by a participating property is electricity GPL does not have to supply at that moment. Every excess unit exported becomes electricity available to the wider grid. At the same time, households and businesses benefit from lower electricity costs and have an incentive to maintain the systems.
Guyana has abundant sunshine, growing financial resources and rapidly increasing electricity demand. Government has already demonstrated that it sees solar as part of our energy future. The opportunity now is to turn Guyanese rooftops into a meaningful component of our national electricity infrastructure.
If Government is going to spend billions expanding generation and strengthening the electricity network — as it must — there is no reason every additional megawatt has to come from a Government-owned power station. Some of that generating capacity can sit on our homes, businesses, factories and warehouses, with the public investment returning value to the country through electricity supplied to the grid.
The answer to increasing electricity demand cannot simply be to tell a developing country to use fewer fans, lights or air-conditioners. The better response is to build the capacity necessary to support the standard of living we aspire to.
The One Guyana Solar Project would build upon the good work Government and GEA have already started and take it to the next level, allowing Government, GPL, businesses and ordinary citizens to become partners in increasing Guyana’s generating capacity.
Instead of simply telling Guyanese to use less electricity, let us help Guyanese produce more.