The quest for long-term energy security may mean some increased electricity costs for Barbadians in the interim as the country transitions away from fossil fuels to rely on more renewable power sources like solar.
Stephen Worme, who represents the energy sector on the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s council, said there was no perfect solution and what “we have to do is make sure that we do our best to manage the situation, and communicate with our citizens”.
He was speaking in the context of the national energy consultation process led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and policy changes announced by Minister of Energy Kerrie Symmonds.
Symmonds said Government was pursuing a major programme of battery energy storage, grid modernisation and regulatory reform as Barbados works towards achieving 50 per cent renewable energy penetration by the end of 2027.
Worme said the BCCI “has been integral part of that discussion.
We are actually participating on two of the four committees that she has set up for the process”.
“So we are in a position to contribute and to give our ideas and to challenge some of the proposals that are being put forward, and you would have known that the minister made some announcements on Monday to do with what how the country plans to move forward,” he stated.
“Everybody thinks that renewable energy is going to be all and end all, [that] it’s going to reduce electricity prices, and there is a lot of discussion on whether or not that will happen.
“One thing for sure [is] it will definitely help the country become more secure from an energy perspective. It will also help . . . to buffer any challenges that we may have in terms of pricing as a result of wars and other issues that do occur from time to time that impact the price of oil.”
He said this was a positive thing, with many benefits for moving to renewable energy, but added that “during the transition, there is definitely going to be a time where we are going to be requiring equipment to actually provide the renewable energy”.
“But we need to maintain some of the existing equipment to . . . actually participate and make sure the transition goes smoothly. So, from that perspective, there will be potentially an increase in costs,” Worme suggested.
“How much it will be, we cannot tell, but . . . the customer will be impacted . . . to the extent we don’t know.
“But one thing for sure, Government is doing its best to try to manage that because it’s not the solution that’s the issue: is how we manage the solution, and . . . how we are going to manage this process to try to make sure that the impact on customers is minimised.”
He reiterated: “But what will happen in the long run, is that we will have a more secure energy supply, and at the end of the day, I do believe Barbadians will benefit.
“And that’s where our job on the Chamber is, trying to make sure that we put the representations that are needed and to support government through their efforts to do so.” (SC)
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