No capacity issues on national grid, says Symmonds

To date, only 11.8 per cent of the targeted 750 megawatts of renewable energy capacity required over the next eight years have been connected to the national grid.

Word of this has come from Minister of Energy Kerrie Symmonds who dismissed any concern of any grid capacity constraints as Barbados aims to achieve 100 per cent reliance on renewable energy by 2030.

At the same time, he called on the relevant government departments and the Barbados Light and Power Company (BLPC) to be more transparent with data to help potential investors in the sector make critical decisions.

He made the comments on Wednesday during the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) renewable energy forum and expo at the Hilton Barbados Resort, which was held under the theme Barbados’ 2030 Renewable Energy Vision: Where are We?

Symmonds noted that as of October 1, 2022, there were 65.5 megawatts of renewable energy installed on the national grid, and another 22.8 megawatts of potential capacity which was licensed but not yet connected to the grid.

“It therefore means that you have a total of 88.3 megawatts of renewable energy capacity either already installed or about to be installed on the grid in Barbados, out of a likely 750 megawatts. So that we have only just begun the journey,” said Symmonds.

“It baffles me, therefore, as the Minister of Energy, when I hear the disinformation and misinformation about ‘oversaturation’ and ‘shortage of availability’, and ‘this may not work anymore’. Not true, when we are only at 88 and we need to get to 750 megawatts. Quite the contrary. We now need to accelerate and quicken our pace and broaden the base of participation across the country so that we can have the serious opportunity of meeting the targets that we have set for ourselves.”

Authorities are anticipating that the island’s renewable energy landscape will consist of roughly 410 to 435 megawatts of solar photovoltaic systems, 150 megawatts of offshore wind energy, 150 megawatts of onshore wind energy, and 15 megawatts of biomass.

However, Symmonds informed the gathering of businesspeople, financiers and regulators that those targets were not set in stone, and he expected the wind energy targets would be way less while the solar photovoltaic would be more significant.

“These targets have to ebb and flow within reasonable proportions based on the investment climate. For example, there is a clear preference in this country to go the route of solar photovoltaics,” he said.

Noting that he was not prepared to leave the build-out of the sector to “happenstance or serendipity”, Symmonds said, “one of the myths that have been perpetuated around the place is that the feeder lines are oversaturated”.

However, pointing to what he said was evidence to the contrary, Symmonds outlined that in Barbados, there were 54 feeder lines – the power lines through which electricity is transmitted from the system to the grid.

“Capacity concerns on the feeder line usually arise when the feeder line gets to roughly 5 megawatts or more of capacity. They are not designed to carry much more than that,” he said.

“For your benefit, I am going to let you know that as of October 1 this year, there were seven feeder lines in Barbados which had reached 4 megawatts,” he said while disclosing that he met on Tuesday with officials of the BLPC on a number of issues relating to the country’s renewable energy transition efforts.

He said of the 54 feeder lines on the island, 47 of them had capacity installed ranging from as low as 14 kilowatts to 3.5 megawatts. Thirty of them are below 1 megawatt.

“The idea of oversaturation is grossly overstated. I want us, therefore, to have calm assurance that there is a lot of room at the table and there is a lot of opportunity for participation. And we can only make this work if we have the confidence of having access to that information,” said Symmonds.

“You must know where it makes sense to make the investment and what are the terms and conditions upon which you are going to invest. So that the idea of a monthly update on the status of the feeder lines is something that I feel must now be made public as part of the public ownership of this process,” he added. (MM)