Shop Now - RezynTech
0 $0.00
Get Quote

Tag: Barbados

SolarBuzz Jamaica > Blog Classic > Barbados
Alternative Energy Electricity Government Jobs News Solar Energy

CaPRI to present country report on renewable energy options in Barbados

November 2, 2015

CO-EXECUTIVE director of The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), Dr Christopher Tufton, will this week travel to Barbados to chair a workshop on Barbados’ country report on renewable energy options at the Caribbean Development Bank Conference Centre in St Michael.

With funding from the European Union (EU) under its Energy Facility II programme, CaPRI has been implementing the ‘Frameworks, Policies and Instruments for Mobilising Renewable Energy in the Caribbean’ project over the past two and a half years.

The overall objective of the project is to empower both the public and private sectors and other energy consumers in the Caribbean to make informed decisions on renewable energy investments, and to provide input to policymaking in order to create an enabling environment to accelerate such investment.

The workshop will present the country report which included analyses of renewable energy technology options as well as a number of tools aimed at the public and private sector, including:

*Technology assessment tool — an online calculator which will enable Caribbean businesses and energy consumers to size and cost renewable energy systems to meet their energy needs;

* Renewable energy financing database — a searchable database of local and international financing schemes to allow energy consumers, businesses and project developers to identify appropriate financing for their renewable energy projects, large and small;

* Policies and incentives database — a complete database of incentives available for renewable energy investments in the Caribbean;

*Cost benefit analysis tool.

According to Tufton, the workshop will also include a practical session using the cost benefit tool, and an opportunity for participants to provide feedback on its usefulness. So far CaPRI has presented country reports in Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and Jamaica with Barbados and Guyana left.

This CaPRI EU programme is valued at approximately 500,000 Euros over four years and represents the most in-depth database on renewable energy in the Caribbean.

CaPRI is hopeful that this database will be used by policymakers, the private sector and the general public to increase the use of renewables in the region, Tufton said.

The Observer

Alternative Energy Electricity Energy Saving Government News Solar Energy

Caribbean urged to make full use of Green Climate Fund

May 30, 2014

The cost of energy in the Caribbean is the highest in the world, according to the Caribbean Development Bank, but governments have increasingly been pushing renewable sources of energy, like these solar-powered road on Highway 2000 in Jamaica.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – A senior official of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says the operationalising of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) provides an important opportunity for regional countries to not only adapt to climate change but also to mitigate its effects.

In addition, Selwin Hart, the Climate Change Finance Advisor with the CDB said the fund could also assist the Caribbean move towards renewable energy and energy efficiency.

“The cost of energy in the Caribbean is the highest in the world. This represents a serious strike on competitiveness, economic growth and job creation and the GCF presents a once in a lifetime opportunity for countries to have a stable source to financing to address the vulnerabilities both as it relates to importing fossil fuels as well as the impacts of climate change,” he said.

He said one of the major problems facing Caribbean countries in the past has been the lack of capacity to effectively access and use funds even when they were available.

“Many of the requirements for accessing global funds lie outside of the reach of many of the small capacity-constraint counties of the region. You have to undertake a rigorous examination in terms of fiduciary standards and social and environmental safeguards,” Hart said.

The CDB, as part of its climate resilient strategy, has been assisting countries to build that capacity. However, in some instances it is more feasible for that capacity to be built at a regional level rather than at the level of individual countries.

The bank has also been tasked by Caribbean leaders to lead the resource mobilisation effort and in this regard, the CDB is trying to position itself to serve at a regional financial intermediary.

The GCF will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing countries using thematic funding windows’. It is intended to be the centre piece of efforts to raise climate finance of US$100 billion a year by 2020.

Meanwhile, the GCF for which preparations have been ongoing since 2010, has recently been finalised by its board; marking an end to a long and tedious process and giving the green light for the fund to move forward to mobilise resources.

Executive director at the GCF secretariat, Hela Cheikhrouhou, said that this is an important development which will put in place

a multilateral financing institution that is focused on providing concessional financing to both private and public sector beneficiaries in developing countries.

The Jamaica Observer;

Alternative Energy Electricity Government News Solar Energy

Offer More Incentives For Renewable Energy – CaPRI

July 25, 2013

The regional think tank, Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), is urging Caribbean governments to diversify the incentives being offered in the renewable energy market.

Presenting an update on its renewable-energy research that it expects will influence policies and inform potential investors on the way forward in the sector, CaPRI’s renewable energy programme manager, Dr Suzanne Shaw, said the research has revealed that the region should be aiming for greater diversification of incentives in the renewable energy market.

Shaw said though there were incentives dedicated to renewable energies, many of them were tax incentives.

She also noted that there were attempts to change this with the implementation of net-billing schemes in countries such as Barbados and Jamaica but more needs to be done.

“We are hoping to get to a stage where we have a more diverse policy mix that can really treat the needs of the various technologies we find in the Caribbean,” Shaw said.

Ja is ahead of the pack

She said the research, which started in 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2015, has also revealed that Jamaica is ahead of the curve in the drafting of renewable-energy policies.

“There are policies in place in many Caribbean countries and I think it is fair to say that Jamaica is ahead in the development of renewable-energy policies,” Shaw said

She said there were two parts to the research being conducted and these would help both regional policy makers and the private sector to push the renewable-energy sector forward.

“What we are trying to do is on one hand influence policies in Caribbean countries to create an enabling environment to allow renewable energy to emerge and occupy the place that it can occupy as an economic alternative to conventional energy sources,” Shaw said.

She added that CaPRI is trying to also make sure enough information is available to potential investors so that they can develop viable energy projects and increase implementation.

CaPRI’s research has also received high marks from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining.

Hillary Alexander, permanent secretary in the ministry, said the research was interesting and would add value to the work the ministry is currently undertaking.

She said CaPRI has been approached to share its preliminary findings with the ministry.

The Jamaica Gleaner;

Alternative Energy Electricity Government News Solar Energy

Offer More Incentives For Renewable Energy – CaPRI

July 25, 2013

The regional think tank, Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), is urging Caribbean governments to diversify the incentives being offered in the renewable energy market.

Presenting an update on its renewable-energy research that it expects will influence policies and inform potential investors on the way forward in the sector, CaPRI’s renewable energy programme manager, Dr Suzanne Shaw, said the research has revealed that the region should be aiming for greater diversification of incentives in the renewable energy market.

Shaw said though there were incentives dedicated to renewable energies, many of them were tax incentives.

She also noted that there were attempts to change this with the implementation of net-billing schemes in countries such as Barbados and Jamaica but more needs to be done.

“We are hoping to get to a stage where we have a more diverse policy mix that can really treat the needs of the various technologies we find in the Caribbean,” Shaw said.

Ja is ahead of the pack

She said the research, which started in 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2015, has also revealed that Jamaica is ahead of the curve in the drafting of renewable-energy policies.

“There are policies in place in many Caribbean countries and I think it is fair to say that Jamaica is ahead in the development of renewable-energy policies,” Shaw said

She said there were two parts to the research being conducted and these would help both regional policy makers and the private sector to push the renewable-energy sector forward.

“What we are trying to do is on one hand influence policies in Caribbean countries to create an enabling environment to allow renewable energy to emerge and occupy the place that it can occupy as an economic alternative to conventional energy sources,” Shaw said.

She added that CaPRI is trying to also make sure enough information is available to potential investors so that they can develop viable energy projects and increase implementation.

CaPRI’s research has also received high marks from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining.

Hillary Alexander, permanent secretary in the ministry, said the research was interesting and would add value to the work the ministry is currently undertaking.

She said CaPRI has been approached to share its preliminary findings with the ministry.

The Jamaica Gleaner;

Alternative Energy Government News

Going For Growth: On Energy

February 25, 2013

A truck laden with cement at Carib Cement's Rockfort plant. Cement manufacturers in Trinidad benefit from cheaper energy and thus gain better profit margins than their Jamaican counterparts which are more efficient but suffer from meteoric energy bills. - File
A truck laden with cement at Carib Cement’s Rockfort plant. Cement manufacturers in Trinidad benefit from cheaper energy and thus gain better profit margins than their Jamaican counterparts which are more efficient but suffer from meteoric energy bills. – File

Densil Williams, Guest Columnist

It is no secret that Jamaica has a growth problem. For four decades, our average growth rate has hovered around 1%, while similar countries such as Singapore and Barbados grew in the rage of 6-8%. Their citizens now enjoy a higher standard of living as measured by their per-capita income than Jamaicans do.

Singapore has a per-capita income of more than US$43,000; Barbados’ per-capita income is around US$23,000, while Jamaica stands at around US$5,000. The disparity is even more alarming if one looks at the fact that these countries are all coming from roughly the same per-capita income of around US$390 in 1960. Indeed, for Jamaica to catch up, it has to grow its economy, full stop. Meandering along with 1% growth is not going to cut it.

However, it must be appreciated that economic growth is not an effortless task, especially for a small, open economy with so many structural problems and vulnerabilities. It is in this context that the discourse on growth in Jamaica has to take place. This article, and some of the others to come, will focus on various impediments to Jamaica’s growth over the last 50 years and also provide some insights into dealing with these challenges. The first issue that will be tackled is energy.

ENERGY AND GROWTH

The high cost of energy in Jamaica is clearly an inhibitor to economic growth. To grow the economy, Jamaica will have to increase the production of goods and services each year and sell these into the marketplace.

If people are buying Jamaican goods, the producers will be obliged to produce more. So, the greater the demand for a country’s goods and services, the greater the likelihood that the producers of those goods and services will increase their production. All other things being equal, the overall output of the country will be increased as well.

However, because of the high cost of energy, it is difficult for Jamaican goods to compete in the marketplace. Price competition, therefore, is not an option for Jamaican producers in the local and international marketplace. As such, Jamaican producers are at a disadvantage, as the majority of consumers are price sensitive. When they go to the stores, they will choose a product with a lower price, assuming all other factors remain constant.

While in the main it is accepted that Jamaican firms can be more efficient and cut wastage in order to reduce their cost structure and eventually compete at better prices, it is not always true that the high price of Jamaican products results from inefficiency at the firm level. The onerous burden that energy places on the cost structure of Jamaican firms cannot be overlooked when analysing price competitiveness in the marketplace.

Cement production is a good example of how high energy prices impact cost structure of an enterprise although the firm performs efficiently in other areas. To produce one ton of cement, Caribbean Cement Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Trinidad Cement Limited, uses roughly 102kWh of electricity, while in Trinidad, cement producers use 110kWh of electricity to produce the same ton of cement.

Carib Cement, however, pays US$0.30 per kilowatt-hour for electricity from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) – note, this is a preferential rate arrived at through negotiations – while cement producers in Trinidad pay US$0.03 per kilowatt-hour. As such, although the Jamaican plant is roughly 8% more efficient with the usage of electricity, it still faces a US$27 higher cost to produce the ton of cement.

The high price of energy in Jamaica is clearly a deterrent to increased production and, by extension, the future growth of the economy.

THE SOLUTION MIX

There will be no single solution to deal with the high cost of energy in Jamaica. What we all agree on is that we must reduce the exorbitant cost that consumers have to pay for this vital resource. For sure, there has to be greater efficiency on the part of the JPS in providing energy to its consumers. Its heat rate must be improved, similar to those of the private power producers; its system loss has to be improved; and most important, it has to use the most efficient technology to produce electricity for its consumers.

Indeed, the Energy Think Tank at the University of the West Indies, Mona, in its latest publication in the

Alternative Energy Government News

Energy Efficiency Programme Coming For Small Hotels

February 25, 2013

Energy Minister, Phillip Paulwell
Energy Minister, Phillip Paulwell

An energy efficiency project aimed at cutting energy costs in smaller hotels is to be implemented in Jamaica by the end of the year.

The project, which is called the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action Programme, has been successfully tested in Barbados and will be extended to The Bahamas and other countries in the region.

In endorsing the energy saving initiative, Jamaica

Alternative Energy Government News

Energy Efficiency Programme Coming For Small Hotels

February 25, 2013

Energy Minister, Phillip Paulwell
Energy Minister, Phillip Paulwell

An energy efficiency project aimed at cutting energy costs in smaller hotels is to be implemented in Jamaica by the end of the year.

The project, which is called the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action Programme, has been successfully tested in Barbados and will be extended to The Bahamas and other countries in the region.

In endorsing the energy saving initiative, Jamaica

1 2

SolarBuzz © 2023. All Rights Reserved.