Official urges investment in renewable energy options before too late

Operators in the service industries are being encouraged to take advantage of the Householders’ Right to Renewable Energy initiative and earn from selling their excess power to the national grid.

William Hinds, Chief Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Officer in the Ministry of Energy, said instead of putting the money on the bank or “under the mattress”, it made sense to invest in a renewable energy system and earn from it over time. Under the arrangement, homeowners could install renewable energy systems up to 10 kilowatt (kW) on their properties without a licence and benefit from selling excess energy to the grid.

He explained that the earnings from this investment after around 20 to 25 year’s time could be used to fund education or other expenses.

Hinds said if it was a case of not having enough money upfront to invest in the systems, individuals were able to take out a loan, pay back that loan and still earn a handsome income.

“What I am saying is that there are banks and financial agencies that have the money to lend you. Some of them give you 100 per cent of the money, and some of them have interest rates as low as 3.5 per cent,” he said.

“You can make a tremendous amount of money and everyone is rushing to do it. Everyone wants it done in two minutes so they can go to the bank and the banks have the money [to lend] because they see a way you can pay them back,” said Hinds.

The energy ministry official was addressing an information webinar for service industry operators that was held under the theme Renewable Energy and Green Financing: Moving from Possibilities to Realities. The seminar was organised by the Energy Smart Fund and the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries (BCSI).

Hinds outlined various scenarios, stating that after 10 years an individual could earn as much as an estimated $9,000 for a 2.5 kilowatt system, which was at the lower end, and as much as $41,000 for a 10 kilowatt system after 15 years.

“What I am saying is that it is really a great opportunity and an easy way to make money. It is a tremendously easy way to make money,” he stressed.

Since 2010, generators of electricity from renewable energy sources have been able to sell their excess power to the national grid.

Prior to the Householders’ Right to Renewable Energy policy, anyone seeking to install renewable energy systems above 5 kW had to make an application for a licence.

The measure, which is designed to help the island inch closer to its 2030 target of making Barbados fully reliant on renewable energy sources, has so far seen some 200 approvals since its introduction in late August of this year.

Hinds said there were people who were already reaping big from installing photovoltaic systems and selling their excess energy to the grid. He warned that this opportunity could disappear by 2030 given the growing interest.

“Every year the Barbados Light and Power company is paying people tens of [thousands] of dollars . . . and for the solar systems there is very little they have to do to maintain that,” said Hinds.

“There are a lot of people who want to take advantage of the opportunities and the opportunities are going to be gone by 2030 or before because once the grid is full we will have to look where we put the extra electricity,” he said.

Government is targeting 50,000 households to take up the offer under the Householders’ Right to Renewable Energy and is in the process of looking at energy storage.

During the seminar, participants also learned about the various financing options available through the Energy Smart Fund. (MM)