Barbados will be embarking on large scale wind energy production thanks to a partnership between Government and the Barbados Light and Power Company (BLPC).
Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins, made the announcement during the official opening of the BLPC’s Clean Energy Bridge (CEB) Plant, at the Trents Generating Site in St. Lucy, on Tuesday.
The 30 megawatt Lamberts Wind Farm will be located at Lamberts, St. Lucy, which has been dubbed the hub for renewable energy projects on the island.
“The [BLPC] team has been tremendous in working along with our international financial partners to be able to complete the signature of a nondisclosure agreement, allowing us to begin the process of exchanging information.
“We will have, during the course of the next week, a team down, working along with the National Petroleum Corporation to erect the first mast, and that will begin the process of a year-long study of the wind speeds to be able to map out when, where, how we have a 30 megawatt project on wind of that size,” Minister Cummins disclosed, adding that community engagement will be an integral part of the process.
The Energy Minister further revealed that a mapping exercise was under way to guide stakeholders on the way forward for renewable energy.
“We’ve shared with the Barbados Light and Power the infrastructure expansion plans for Barbados, as we look to include the public sector investment programme, new infrastructure projects and new housing projects, in order to map our future in terms of renewable energy and bridging fuels like natural gas,” the Minister explained.
Senator Cummins hailed the utility company’s 33 megawatt state-of-the-art CEB Plant as a “visual representation” of Barbados’ transition to renewable energy.
However, she noted that there were still some ways to go in reaching the goal of 100 per cent renewable energy and carbon-neutrality by 2030, and she challenged the power company to move towards using “cleaner” fuel.
“We want to be able to work with the Barbados Light and Power Company to migrate over to what we have established as a country is a bridging fuel, LNG [liquefied natural gas], and ultimately to a cleaner form of energy, bio-diesel….
“It has been a difficult journey but it’s only just begun…, so I am challenging all of you to begin the process of engaging with the Ministry of Energy, the Barbados National Oil Company and the National Petroleum Corporation, and our international partners with whom we have a procurement relationship and supply relationship, to begin that transitioning role for the BLPC,” she stated.
The Energy Minister also called on the BLPC to be part of the vanguard in the renewable energy sector as it relates to innovation and engineering.
In a recorded message, Chief Operating Office of Emera Caribbean Inc., Dave McGregor, said their Clean Energy Bridge Plant was a cost-effective and reliable means of transitioning from the use of fossil fuel to renewable energy.
Mr. McGregor added that the BLPC was looking forward to the construction of the Lamberts Wind Farm “over the next few years”.