Business Barbados 2022

Sun, Sand, Sea and Solar “Sun, sand and sea” has been used on numerous tourism brochures and in vacation marketing for many years. Perhaps it will be appropriate to add another word to that phrase, solar. One of the main drivers of the tourism sector, our abundant sunshine, is also the impetus behind the nascent renewable energy sector. Anyone flying into the country, or while driving around the island, will notice the increased number of rooftop solar projects on homes and businesses. In the next few years, the landscape of the island will be transformed by solar farms, some of which are already being constructed. The reason for these changes is the alignment with the Barbados National Energy Policy (BNEP) which set a bold renewable energy goal for Barbados: fossil-fuel free electricity and transport by 2030. It is an ambitious goal but one which is supported and being driven from the very top. Our Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley made a powerful speech at the COP26 in Glasgow recently and is a respected leader on climate action. This is evidenced by Prime Minister Mottley having received the 2021 Champion of the Earth award for Policy Leadership by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN’s highest environmental honour. Suffice it to say, the political will exists to achieve the 2030 goal. A follow through of that leadership is that the legal framework and regulatory foundations have been established, in the form of the Electric Light and Power Act and the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program for systems up to 10MW. Competitive procurement will apply for systems greater than 10MW. As of September 2021, 52MW of solar photovoltaic capacity has been connected to the grid. Solar PV systems have been installed on hundreds of homes, businesses, churches, schools and Government buildings. The sight of electricity producing solar panels on rooftops is becoming as ubiquitous as our solar hot water collectors and tanks. This is just the beginning. The Implementation Plan for the Barbados National Energy Policy calls for 625MW of overall renewable energy generating capacity by 2030. The renewable energy industry has benefitted from unprecedented local and international interest as a result of the Feed-in Tariff program. However, this rapid growth has placed strain on the resources of the entities approving projects which has led to pre-construction delays during much of 2020 and 2021. It is estimated that over 200MW of applications are awaiting approval, most of which are ground mounted solar projects. The entities involved in the permitting and approval of renewable energy Khalid Grant President, Barbados Renewable Energy Association 103 BUSINESS BARBADOS 2022 S U N , S A N D , S E A A N D S O L A R