Government’s budgetary measures to unlock business in the stalled renewable energy sector will come under the scrutiny of the Barbados Renewable Energy Association (BREA) when it meets next week.
BREA’s Vice President Stephen Worme told Barbados TODAY: “We’ll be looking at the next steps that we can take to be able to support the effort that government is making.”
During the presentation of the Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals on Monday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said growth in the sector was being constrained by regulatory lag, namely the long-awaited decision by the Fair Trading Commission on the Barbados Light and Power Company (BLPC) Clean Energy Transition Rider (CETR) application.
The CETR would allow the power company to have 90 megawatts of battery energy storage systems to accommodate more photovoltaic systems onto the grid. Currently, BLPC can only absorb 100 megawatts without adding storage.
Insisting that getting storage into the system was a matter of urgent national security, Prime Minister Mottley announced that the government would engage in direct negotiations with international suppliers of storage systems to determine what is available and most affordable. She added that local interests would be invited to participate in the provision of battery storage in the coming weeks.
Worme noted that BREA would support anything that could move the sector forward, but stressed the need for more details.
“We would like more information on exactly how this process works, but if it’s something that can help to fast forward the transition process and if we can achieve it at the lowest possible cost, we would definitely welcome it,” he said.
He noted that while the government’s move is an attempt to try to fast forward the supply of batteries, the country must ensure that the transition is manageable in terms of costs and infrastructure. Worme said BREA would continue to work with the government, BLPC and other stakeholders to achieve this.
“So there are two paths that are going right now as we understand it. One is Light and Power – they have actually gone to market and are waiting for the conclusion of the Clean Energy Transition Rider application – and the second one is government following this path. How these two are going to work together, we need more information on it,” said the BREA official. “The important thing is at the end of the day, we get the best solution for Barbados.”
The trained engineer who has more than 30 years of experience in the local energy sector, advised that the solutions for the renewable energy sector do not lie solely in the purchase of the batteries but in the operation of the batteries and the related costs.
“So what we want to do – and that’s what we have been advocating for – is to find the right balance between ownership of batteries between the private sector and between Light and Power and all the different players in the game,” he said.
“We want to find the right balance both in terms of upfront costs, which is the investment costs, as well as the operating cost of the batteries. And we have to look at it holistically to be able to determine what the best solution is for Barbados. Those are the things that we have been advocating for to try to find the right solutions for Barbados.”
Like PM Mottley, the BREA executive is looking forward to the FTC ruling on the CETR application, pointing out that the association has provided written submissions to the regulatory agency.
He said: “We are looking forward to the decision soon and once that decision is made, that’s only part of what is going to be required. There is a further discussion that’s going to be needed. So I think there’s still some information that would be helpful and we are working with the Ministry of Energy to try to find the best way forward for Barbados.”
(SD)
