Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Investment, Telecommunications and Energy, Sen. Darcy Boyce, addressing the project launch and signing ceremony of the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action Programme, (CHENACT) at Hilton Barbados.
A Sustainable Energy Framework for Barbados (SEFB) is on the cards to promote and support sustainable energy and energy conservation programmes, and to provide alternatives to minimise the dependency on fossil fuels.
Word of this came from Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Investment, Telecommunications and Energy, Senator Darcy Boyce yesterday, as he delivered the feature address at the project launch and signing ceremony of the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action Programme, (CHENACT) at Hilton Barbados.
Minister Boyce announced that the SEFB would be developed as a result of Government securing approval from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as part of a coordinated set of projects.
“[It will] provide technical assistance to Government to achieve energy efficiency in public buildings, the residential sector and small and medium enterprises; [and] will explore alternatives for renewable energies,” he said.
Another objective of the technical cooperation initiative is the provision of technical assistance in the preparation of a bio-energy programme for Barbados, including the assessment of environmental and social impacts.
Additionally, the project will provide an adequate plan for institutional strengthening in the areas of energy efficiency, bio-energy, carbon finance and dissemination of findings.
According to Senator Boyce, there will also be a US$1,000,000 Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Operation that will finance pilot projects for energy efficiency and renewable energy, with the IDB functioning as the GEF agency.
“The objective of this coordinated effort is to demonstrate energy efficiency and renewable energy benefits in a quantitative and qualitative manner, so that government officials and the population in general, can judge the potential and expansive positive effects that these measures, if taken to a larger scale, can attain over time.”
“This approach is in direct harmony with the development efforts that the Bank wants to implement in every project, by connecting project activities with actual measurable results,” Minister Boyce further explained.