SECTOR: ENERGY PROJECT: EXPANSION OF POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS STATUS: ONGOING FINANCING: US$26 MILLION (2019)
The OPEC Fund’s newly-signed loan will help construct a 36 MW power plant. The total project scope encompasses upgrading the existing Menckendam Substation, and rehabilitating and expanding transmission and distribution networks to meet current and growing electricity demands. This project is co-financed by the Islamic Development Bank, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Caribbean Development Bank and the government of Suriname.
57 percent Some
of people are directly and indirectly expected to benefit.
Dion Benjamin, Local resident, Paramaribo, Suriname I’d like to see more growth on a commercial level, as well as at the daily household level, in the rural interior of Suriname. They’re not connected to the current electricity network, especially in the districts of Brokopondo and Sipaliwini. I live a few streets away (from the Menckendam Substation) but my roots are in the interior. I visit there often. People that can afford it use a small generator.
If you have extended family, you can pool money to buy a large generator and use it for a whole area. But the greater part of the population doesn’t have electricity. That’s an issue, especially for schoolchildren who want to study at night. If you’re a small business owner, and want to sell chicken, you want to have a steady supply in your market. If you don’t have a freezer to keep your chicken, that’s limiting. That’s one of the things that could be helped with more investment in the electricity network.
12
Robert Pancham, Chief Engineer, Suriname National Electrical Company, EBS Our engineering department monitors the national demand for energy. We study growth rates as well as the pattern in which demand migrates, so we can see what kind of infrastructure needs to be added to the system before we run into trouble. If we don’t get that [infrastructure] in time, we could see congestion in the electrical transmission system, which means we’re operating at or beyond system limits, and risk instability or even power outages. We have two rainy and two dry seasons in Suriname. September into October is the hottest time of the year. That’s when we see the highest demand for energy. It’s also a holiday season, so kids are out of school and at home. Air-conditioning units and other household appliances are working much harder. People on a global scale should be wise when we consume energy. It comes at a cost, not only to our individual pockets. We have to use energy efficiently to make sure we have it well into the future and don’t harm the planet.
Marcel Eindhoven, Chief Technical Officer, Suriname National Electrical Company, EBS Our electricity supply is stable now but we
need to get the system ready for the next 20 to 25 years. We’ve seen a trend in people moving out of the city towards the west and south. So we need to generate more energy, and
also strengthen the transmission network to bring it to different parts of our country. The Menckendam Substation was taken into service in 2006. It is now the main re-distributor of
energy in our system, and needs to be reinforced to meet growing demand. The new power plant (Paranam) will be in the south, where we have more land available. These will be turnkey
projects, but our people will simultaneously be trained to maintain the system for the next 25 to 30 years. This is very important. Suriname is a beautiful country with a lot of opportunities. A lot needs to be developed here. We need
people with guts to start those developments, otherwise we don’t get to grow.
PHOTOS (unless otherwise credited: OPEC Fund/Federico Pardo
PHOTO: OPEC Fund/Nadia Benamara
PHOTO: OPEC Fund/Nadia Benamara
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59
