Rupununi 2001- 03

Moco-Moco Hydro Project

Imagine living a life with little or no electricity. Ice boxes, water jugs, preserved beef, candle and lamp light are a daily part of your life. Imagine not being able to adequately cater to the medical needs of the community because there is no refrigeration for vaccines. Now imagine that this state of affairs exists not in the 1890s but rather some one hundred years later, in the 1990s, in a remote part of Guyana, South America. Up until 1997, this was the way of life for many persons living in a hinterland area called Rupununi, nestled in the southwest corner just minutes away from Guyana’s neighbour Brazil. Propane was a part of people’s lives, as it fuelled their stoves, refrigerators, generators, even televisions and radio sets; and which, though less costly than gasoline, was still expensive. Many homes had never seen a working light bulb, and lighting an oil lamp was more second nature than flicking a switch.

This was until the decision was taken as a result of collaboration between the governments of Guyana and China to set up a pilot hydro power plant. The area chosen was Moco-Moco, a village at the foot of the Kanuku Mountains which is home to the endangered Harpy Eagle. Moco-Moco Creek belongs to the Amazon River system, originating from the North of the Kanuku Mountain Ranges. It flows over a tropical steep with scarce trees (savannahs), converging in the Takatu River, which is the boundary river between Guyana and Brazil at 1km to the south of Lethem, and flowing into the Amazon River into Brazil. The objective of the hydro project was to provide a relatively cheap and reliable supply of power that would serve to stimulate economic and social development of Lethem, the administrative centre of Region 9, Moco-Moco Village, St. Ignatius and Culvert City.  In the past, the absence of and acute shortage of electrical energy suppressed economic activities and social amenities.  This was exacerbated by the high cost of fuel and the fact that operation of the diesel plant was limited to six hours of operation per day.

The decision was partly as a result of the Guyana government’s energy policy, which aimed to provide electricity not only not only to the more urbanised coastal belt, but to residents of isolated communities as well. Because 90% of Guyana’s population lives on a strip of coastland comprising less than 10% of the country’s total land area, this means that there is a vast area yet to be provided with electricity. The Chinese government provided a no-interest loan, as well as expertise to set up the power plant, while the labour was Guyanese.

The GSMP team began its journey early on the morning of April 18, 2001. After picking up Rawl, the line supervisor from the head office of the hydro station in Lethem, Sherwin, our cameraman, Sharla, the sound techie and myself, the investigative journalist, set off just after 7 a.m. on the 40-45 minute drive, with Chris, one of the fast friends we had made since our arrival in Lethem, in the driver’s seat. The air was fresh and the mist was still rolling off the lush green blanket of the mountains which literally divide the Rupununi Savannahs into north and south as we made our way up the red loom trail.

One of the manifestations of the hydro plant has been an influx of people into the community, as they have gravitated towards a steady power supply. As we drove along the road, we could see several obviously new homesteads and small farms, being tended to by families. We passed the new primary school, an impressive looking wood and concrete structure, with power lines running from the building. Dotted between the savannah berry, plum and sandpaper-leaf trees along the road were simple poles cut from locust-nut trees in the rainforest from which were strung, somewhat precariously it seemed, the power lines for the village. Finally, as we crossed the last of five small creeks which ran from the Kanuku Mountains, we entered the compound of the Hydro Plant. It was surprisingly muted and quite deserted, with just a lone figure crossing the yard. The silence was all-encompassing in the mid-day heat.

A hydro station is not usually loud but we soon discovered that the reason for the ominous quiet was that the power station itself was suffering from a distinct lack of power, due to a problem in the system. Rawl, the line supervisor, told us shortly after, that a passing truck had hit a section of the power lines and this had caused a short circuit, which was automatically registered at the plant and forced a shut-down. He led us inside as he directed the staff to isolate and rectify the problem. After about twenty minutes, the power was restored, and Rawl was then able to take us on a brief guided tour of the turbine room, as he explained how it worked.

Hydropower is the leading source of renewable energy. It provides more than 97% of all electricity generated by renewable sources and its contribution to the world’s generated electricity has grown from 14.5% in 1986 to more than 24% today. Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity. The quantity of electricity generated is determined by the volume of water flow and the amount of “head (the height from the water surface to the turbines in the power plant). The greater the flow and head, the more electricity produced. A turbine converts the kinetic energy of falling water into mechanical energy, then a generator converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy. The Moco-Moco plant makes use of the potential energy of the water, as it is stored at a height of about 300m up the mountain, from which it is released to the turbines.

Hydropower is clean. It prevents the burning of 22 billion gallons of oil or 120 million tons of coal each year worldwide, it leaves behind no waste, it does not produce greenhouse gases or other forms of air pollutants and, unlike other energy sources such as fossil fuels, water is not destroyed during the production of electricity it can be reused for other purposes. However, much is not known about the environmental impact of hydro dams in the highlands. A typical hydropower plant includes a dam, reservoir, penstocks (pipes), a powerhouse and an electrical power substation. The dam stores water and creates the head; penstocks carry water from the reservoir to turbines inside the powerhouse; the water rotates the turbines, which drive generators that produce electricity. The electricity is then transmitted to a substation where transformers increase the voltage to allow transmission to homes.

By this time, we were almost adept at reading Rawl’s lips over the noise of the turbines it actually sounded really loud when you stood right next to it. We then spoke briefly with the engaging Lynette the youngest staff member who was also one of only three women working at the plant. She explained that the hardest part of her job was having to deal with the isolation. The long hours sometimes get to you, but I bring books to read. The guys are ok and we talk sometimes to pass the time, but usually if one of the other girls isn’t on duty, I would read my book . I asked her how often she had to climb the stairs which were 972 at last count and she replied that they made the climb every other day to clean the sluice gate. At that point we were very glad we weren’t working at the hydro plant though we were prepared to make it a one-time occurrence then and climb the dreaded stairs.

We took a collective deep breath in anticipation of climbing to the dam, while lugging cameras and tripod, water, notebook at twelve noon! After five minutes, they each felt like they weighed about 22kgs. It took us about 45 minutes, after several stops and starts and cries of no more, slow down, you’re going too fast , and I must be mad to do this every other day before we reached the sluice gate. We discovered that the concrete bunkers placed at intervals along the trail created convenient rest stops. These bunkers functioned as ‘shock absorbers’ to prevent the iron pipes from vibrating out of control from the force of the build-up of water when the turbines were shut off. Oh, but the view was well worth it. Such a feeling of quiet awe as we looked around us at the panoramic view of the village of Moco-Moco and the wider Rupununi Savannah below us to the north, and the mountains to our left. We were all silent as we took it in, the only sounds being the unconcerned birds flying about their business and the powerful rush of water into the by-pass and the penstock (the by-pass is a mechanism to control the head).

After a short stop to get some footage, we continued walking for another twenty minutes until we got to the dam. Fortunately, the path, though winding along the contours of the mountain, was relatively flat and we could all breathe a lot easier. Alongside the trail were abandoned and hardened sacks of cement that had been used in the construction of the dam and we could see evidence in the rock face of the mountain of the blasting which had been done to create the path for the underground pipes and the trail. As we walked along the shadowy trail, which was almost entirely overhung with forested vegetation, we saw a wild cashew-nut tree, immensely tall, the ground below redolent with the fallen fruit. We felt as if we had taken a step into a life interrupted. We saw sagging pulleys that had been used to hoist the construction materials, a collapsed hut built from the sandpaper-leaf tree, which must have housed the workers and tattered pieces of tarpaulin, which bowed under the weight of puddles, mud and rocks and other debris. Stories abound of the donkeys used to fetch materials up the mountainside, and which apparently never made the trip down, as they found themselves delicately laid out on the plates of the Chinese engineers, alongside the choice cuts of snake. We understand that the donkey population of the Rupununi has significantly dwindled since the construction of the hydro plant. We found the part of the creek from which the water had been diverted to create the 25 km² dam, all that remained were massive sun-bleached rocks which appeared to have once been home to a waterfall.

Unlike the donkeys, we decided to make the trip down the mountain about three hours after we got there, an experience traumatic enough if one didn’t know how to negotiate with the stairs. We discovered it was easier to run than to walk, which would have been easy if we were not lugging bulky equipment, and they were evenly spaced. At times we weren’t sure if it was easier making the trek up or down, but the thought of food gave wings to our flight and we arrived at the sub-station about twenty minutes later. Shortly after we left, on the road back to Lethem, we spotted some youngsters home from school picking mangoes. We waved to them, and with true Guyanese hospitality, they offered us some of the fruit. As we sucked on the succulent flesh, the juice running down our fingers, we looked at the Kanuku Mountains behind us, majestic and still in the afternoon sun..