Government is committed to working with its private sector partners to ensure Barbados is able to make the renewable energy transition by 2030.
Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins, stressed, however, that this transition must be just, and also focus on ensuring that people are at the centre of it.
She said since taking over the energy portfolio, Ministry officials had met with all stakeholders in the industry in an effort to assess what they were doing.
“But on the 6th of March, we will then begin the process of updating what our own national trajectory looks like. We have been working with a partner and we will have a kick off on 6th of March…
“We will be going through sector by sector, industry by industry, to ensure that the transition is going to be on track. Where it is not on track, we need to be able to figure out what needs to be done to make it so, and then we are going to be overlaying what is the level of investment that is going to be necessary to support both households, government and of course the private sector to make this work,” she stated.
Senator Cummins made the comments on Thursday at a press conference at Courtesy Garage Limited Showroom, Wildey, St. Michael.
A number of senior officials from the Nissan Motor Corporation are in Barbados this week exploring the potential for the expansion of the renewable energy market in the region, and possible manufacturing opportunities here. They visited officials at Courtesy and the Goddard Group of Companies.
Describing Barbados’ renewable energy transition plan as one of the most aggressive in the world, the Minister pointed out that the country has the second-highest photovoltaic density penetration in the world.
She added that this accomplishment meant that storage solutions, like vehicle-to-grid technology, would become even more important to enable the country to reach its 2030 targets.
“There are supply change challenges globally in energy in the procurement of battery storage, transformers, [and] all of the equipment required for the battery storage….
“That means…companies like Nissan in partnership with companies like Courtesy establishing a commercial presence here in Barbados, to facilitate both the manufacturing to service the domestic market and to meet the Government’s policy objectives, and then to expand throughout the region, will become even more important,” Senator Cummins explained.
Managing Director, Nissan Importers Business Unit, Nissan Motor Corporation, Diana Torres, said its LEAF car is an energy asset because it has the capability of storing the energy and then giving to the grid.
Ms. Torres proffered the view that this island is one of the markets that could take advantage of the vehicle-to-grid technology and move to the next level.
“When we look at all the visions that countries like Barbados have for the future of the green energy, we see these marvellous alliances that we could do to continue reinforcing those green energies…and that transition to a greener world,” she stated.