The Barbados Light & Power Company Ltd (BL&P) is promising major savings to residents and the country in coming years as it embarks on the installation of 33 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity.
During a groundbreaking ceremony at the company’s Trents, St Lucy Energy Gateway site on Friday, Managing Director Roger Blackman said the Clean Energy Bridge Project, which will be carried out by the Finland-based energy company Wärtsilä, will cost about $100 million.
He said the investment in the new plant represented the company’s commitment to its more than 128,000 customers to stabilize electricity fuel costs and maintain system reliability as the island transitions to 100 per cent renewable energy sources by 2033.
“In addition to providing reliable generation capacity and providing a more diverse generation portfolio, the project will lower the island’s fuel import bill and by extension, fuel costs to customers by over $30 million annually, based on current oil prices,” said Blackman.
He said in addition to reducing the island’s carbon dioxide emissions by around 135,000 tonnes per year, Blackman said the project will become a “necessary back-up” for grid resiliency and reliability until and beyond the achievement of the national renewable energy targets.
He said the new facility will lock the utility company into a long-term commitment, but would enable it to safely retire existing generation assets over the next ten years, while providing back-up support required for advancing the renewable transition plans.
“Energy delivered from this project will contribute approximately 27.1 per cent of the annual energy requirement for Barbados,” he added.
Wärtsilä won the contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Clean Energy Bridge facility.
The first two units of the medium-speed diesel generation plant, which will consist of four engines, will commence operation in the middle of this year and the second two “shortly afterwards”, according to Blackman.
The company’s 10 MW solar farm, which was installed in 2016, is already saving the country some $8 million to $10 million annually in fuel imports and about 18,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
As part of its plans, the company has planted some 200 Pride of Barbados trees on a section of the property. Ten of the trees were planted on Friday.
Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams welcomed the new project saying it would enable the country’s recovery “from any unnatural event as we push forward the agenda to transform Barbados into a renewable energy economy”.
However, stating that there was still a lot of work to be done in the renewable energy sector, Abrahams said Government continued to work with stakeholders to develop an Integrated Resource Resilience Plan (IRRP).
This plan, he explained, will outline the supply of electricity needed from the different types of renewable sources that are relevant to Barbados, in order to meet expected demand over the long-term.
Pointing out that energy storage would play a critical role, Abrahams said changes would be made to the regulatory framework.
“It is expected that our regulatory frameworks will change and evolve to support the utilization of storage and the appropriate tariff structure will also be developed to incorporate its value and cost,” said Abrahams, adding that Government will continue to support private sector efforts to build out the renewable energy sector.
The BL&P has promised to continue to seek out ways to make electricity generation cleaner and bringing that energy to market at affordable prices.
Though missing the target set two years ago for its Lamberts, St Lucy wind project, Blackman told the gathering on Friday that those plans were still on the cards.
“Wind generation is coming soon. The Lamberts project has been rejuvenated and we will share more on that in the weeks ahead and continue our stakeholder engagement,” he said.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
