Sunshine arrives after dark falls: three new solar farms light up 1,600 lives in Guyana's hinterland — a G$110 million (about $525,000) investment

For families in Guyana's remote Region Nine, nightfall used to mean the health centre and the school went dark too. On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Phillips switched on three new solar mini-grids — in Katoonarib, Potarinau and Shulinab — together worth G$110 million (about $525,000) and set to benefit about 1,600 residents. Katoonarib and Potarinau each get 41.5 kilowatts of panels with 187 kilowatt-hours of battery storage — Potarinau alone reaches 685 people across 123 households — while Shulinab gets a slightly larger 46-kilowatt system. The power runs health centres, schools and village offices, and with care the systems should serve their communities for more than 20 years. Eight Region Nine villages are gaining solar under the current programme, part of a wider push reaching 56 hinterland villages.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: infrastructure build