Clarity please!

A banking expert says greater clarity is needed on the Government’s plan to make Barbados 100 per cent reliant on renewable forms of energy by 2030 in order to mobilise waiting private sector investment.

Managing Director of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean) Donna Wellington said on Monday that what is needed is a detailed roadmap that clearly outlines who does what, the estimated costs, and the benefits for each stakeholder, including consumers.

She said that in order to get greater private sector involvement in climate resilience building, institutional strengthening, including within the Ministry of Energy and the Fair Trading Commission, is needed

“That is where we need the support from multilaterals at this point in order for us to get really clear as to what the framework is and what it is we are doing so that everything can start to move. Because once it starts to move we will be flying, but not without the clarity that we require,” said Wellington who was a panellist at the Central Bank of Barbados 43rd annual review seminar, which was held under the theme, The Road to Recovery: Removing Roadblocks and Building Bridges.

“What is required is a framework that allows all the players to have clarity and a very great sense of what is in it for them. The private sector is a driver for growth, not a benevolent society. It cannot be that these things are done without any profit. The profit that the private sector makes is what allows the Government to have tax revenue, it allows for labour and everything else. So while people tend to castigate the private sector, it is an important cog in the wheel to get things done and allow for the kind of growth we want to see.

“So the private sector requires clarity – clarity in regulation, clarity in regimes, incentives or whatever else is required because renewable energy is a very expensive proposition,” added Wellington.

Her position supports a call made over the past year by the President of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE) Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne for a comprehensive plan for achieving 100 per cent reliance on renewable energy.

He said BAPE was “extremely concerned at the lack of a comprehensive, detailed, national plan which details our path to success” and warned that “the planning, problem-solving and the implementation” of the national energy policy was in need of “serious review”.

Wellington said such clarity would better help individuals and the wider private sector better plan and make projections.

“At this point, we don’t have an all-embracing plan for renewable energy up until 2030. What do I mean by that? What is required on a year-by-year basis from everyone in the system, what is required in terms of the grid and the ability to get the solar or wind from the persons who are putting it up to [Barbados] Light and Power to distribute it, what capital expenditure and operating expenditure is required to get that, how much can we do in any given year, what is required in terms of battery storage, and can our grid handle it,” she explained.

The former Barbados Bankers Association president, who said she was not optimistic the country would be able to meet its 2030 renewable energy goal, said while there was no doubt a lot of work had been done, there was still a long way to go.

In fact, pointing out that the lack of battery storage was a major challenge now facing the buildout of the renewable energy sector here, Wellington said this will be even more critical in the coming months to ensure grid stability.

Towards the end of last year, the Barbados Light & Power Company informed stakeholders that potential grid instability was becoming a major concern as more renewable energy systems were added to the national grid.

“Notwithstanding all the solar that is going on, . . . soon from now the Light and Power will have to say, ‘the grid is getting unstable or it is an insatiable grid’,” Wellington said.

“That is a major problem and one that cannot be ignored. These are the sort of things we need to settle very quickly in order for us not to have to pause for a [long] time because it takes time to order batteries; there is a lead time of between 12 to 18 months.”

Wellington disclosed that there were over 400 megawatts worth of investments waiting to be done.

“It is not for lack of financing availability, it is not for lack of interest, but without the framework, without the clarity, it is impossible for people to invest, it is impossible for the energy distributor to invest, it is impossible for anybody to invest. It is even impossible for us to get grants . . . if we do not have clarity as to the timing and what and when. So it needs to start with the regulatory framework,” she insisted.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb ]]>