….project US$478M less than AmailaPakistan has announced that it will be building a 147MW Hydro Electric Plant at a cost of US$362M.This would mean that the cost per mega watt would be US$2.4M as against the more than US$5M per mega watt that the Bharrat Jagdeo Administration secretly negotiated and inked.Parliamentarian Joseph HarmonShadow Minister with responsibility for Public Works in Guyana, Joseph Harmon, says that the Pakistani Hydro Power Plant demonstrates clearly that hydro power plants can be built far more economically than that which is proposed in Guyana.Harmon recalled that when the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Plant was first proposed for Guyana, it was priced at a cost of US$340M.That figure has since skyrocketed to a whopping US$840M.Not at any price“We have always been supportive of hydro,Curry 2 Shoes For Sale, but not hydro at any price,” says Harmon.He said that there must be intense scrutiny of the proposed Amaila Falls Project given that it is not just the current generation of Guyanese that will have to pay for it but “our children and our children’s children.”Harmon opined that the administration possibly believed that because the project is located in an area out of the public eyes that they would have built it at any price with no questions asked.“People are asking questions now,” said Harmon.He opined that the level of scrutiny now being placed on the project was absent years ago because of the lack of information.????? Alliance for Change (AFC) Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan,Cheap NFL Jerseys, in weighing in on the Amaila Falls project as against the Pakistani project,? said that it is important to note that while it is only 18MW less than Guyana’s the difference in cost is a whopping US$478M less than Amaila Falls.He said too that it is even more critical to point out that the Pakistani Project is being done by private sector joint venture, in a country which in the last 10 years had a coup, several assassinations and three governmental changes – thus must be deemed more politically risky than Guyana.”The Amaila Falls project has in its financing a Debt Political Risk Insurance to the tune US$55.7M and is being insured in China.AFC Leader Khemraj RamjattanFinancing AmailaThe Amaila Falls Hydro Power project in recent days has been coming in for extreme criticism given its seemingly astronomical price tag.Only recently, financial analyst Christopher Ram questioned the financing arrangement for the project that serves as a huge part of the over-all cost.Sithe Global has been contracted as the developer of the project which has already inked a contract with China Railway First Group to Build the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.In terms of how the money will be used, Sithe Global officials had explained that the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) cost of the actual project will amount to some US$519.6M.The total capital costs for the project, according to the Sithe Global officials,Cheap Jerseys, will be US$652.5M, taking into consideration additional construction, development, start-up, as well as a contingency.The remaining US$187.8M will go towards financing costs which include Interest during Construction (US$97.1M), Lenders Fee and Advisory Cost (US$34.9M), and Debt Political Risk Insurance (US$55.7M).As it relates to the actual construction of the hydroelectric plant the officials explained that of the US$519.6M in total Capital Expenditure, the plant is expected to cost US$314M,Asics Shoes Sale Usa, with the Transmission Line demanding some US$126M. The additional US$79M is for currency adjustments.Interest during the construction will amount to US$97.1M.Per MW comparisonsExperts on the building of such plants say the cost of hydropower construction per megawatt usually ranges between US$1M and US$1.5M.Some of the most expensive power plants built or under construction include the Chinese Three Gorges power project with a capacity of 18,000 MW at $1.3m per megawatt.The controversial Ilisu hydroelectric dam in Turkey will cost US$1.6B but will generate 1,Argentina National Soccer Team Jerseys,200MW of electricity. This means that it is being constructed at an average cost of US$1.3m per megawatt.In Sudan, the 1,200MW Merowe Dam on the Blue Nile, commissioned in March 2009,Cheap Jerseys, cost only US$760M while the Gilgel Gibe II hydropower station in Ethiopia with a capacity of 420MW was built at a cost of US$600M.