The government of Guyana has signed a grant agreement with Japan for US$17.8 million dollars in funding to expand the use of renewable energy and increase energy efficiency in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city:

The Government of Guyana yesterday clinched a deal with Japan for US$17.8m in renewable energy for the city.

Tokyo, in an agreement which had been announced before, is also providing US$1.3m for energy-saving street lamps.

A ceremony for the signing and handing over of the grants was held in the Conference Room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. Present were Mitsuhiko Okada, Ambassador of Japan to Guyana, and Manorma Soeknandan, the Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, in his remarks, said that the US$17.8m pertains to “improving the efficiency of the power system in the City of Georgetown and the surrounding areas by enhancing substation and distribution equipment as well as establishing a PV (photovoltaic) system and an energy management system at the CARICOM Secretariat”.

The US$1.3m, he related, is to fund the procurement of 10,930 units of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) street lamps, which will replace the street lights currently located in select areas, a release from the ministry stated.

“As Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, I am extremely heartened by the timeliness of the Government of Japan’s contribution in the area of renewable energy because such assistance accords well with Guyana’s development trajectory which is of course towards becoming a Green Economy,” Greenidge said. The minister added that both initiatives will significantly contribute to the country’s Green State Initiative.

Read more in the complete Stabroek News report.

Previously on Green Antilles: Guyana switching over to LED street lamps.

[Image: via Stabroek News]