Barbados Today
Barbados is set to become home to the largest and most technologically advanced renewable energy power plant in the English-speaking Caribbean, with construction of a $350 million hybrid facility expected to begin by March of next year, officials said in Barbados TODAY Friday.
The project will create about 150 jobs during construction and another 20 permanent positions once this hybrid power plant—to be built at Harrow Plantation in St. Philip—becomes operational in about two years, officials said.
Aidan Rogers is the strategic advisor for the project, which is being developed by Renewstable (Barbados) Inc. (RSB)—a special-purpose entity that will act as an independent producer of clean energy, selling the electricity it generates to the Barbados Light and Power Company (BLPC), the national grid operator.
The project is expected to secure its entire capacity through a 25-year power purchase agreement with Light and Power
RSB has currently filed an application with the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) seeking approval of the rate it may charge BLPC for the purchase of its electricity.
The FTC states that the request will be evaluated through a consultative process and asks members of the public to submit their comments in writing by September 1 at the latest.
Rogers said that the power plant, jointly owned by Hydrogène de France (HDF Energy (49 %) and Rubis Caribbean Holdings Inc. (51 %) will supply electricity to the grid 24 hours a day.
«The RSB project is essentially a large-scale green hydrogen renewable energy project that combines the use of various technologies, including hydrogen energy, to generate non-intermittent electricity for the grid,» he told Barbados TODAY .
I wouldn’t call this project unusual. It is, however, innovative. A similar project, developed by HDF Energy, is currently under construction in French Guiana. Hydrogen is a mature technology that can serve as a storage medium. This technology involves the use of an electrolyzer, which separates water (H₂O) into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is captured and stored in tanks, while the oxygen is released into the atmosphere.
Fuel cells then convert the hydrogen into electricity, which is fed into the grid. Batteries provide additional storage and help maintain frequency. We use this combination of technologies to create significant storage capacity so that we can supply the grid with a stable amount of clean energy on demand.
According to Rogers, the project represents a total investment of 175 million U.S. dollars (350 million dollars), including debt financing. «Significantly, the solar photovoltaic component of the project would be five times larger than Trent’s BLPC plant (10 MW) in St. Lucy, since our project will include 50 MW of solar photovoltaic panels and will be the largest solar power plant in the country,» he added.
Rogers then turned his attention more specifically to the rate that the RSB is requesting from the regulator.
«The reason the project was the subject of a rate application to the [Fair Trading Commission] is that the RSB is not a project based on guaranteed feed-in tariffs,» he said. «The RSB project provides a non-intermittent source of renewable energy to the grid through a combination of storage technologies, including water electrolysis, hydrogen storage tanks, fuel cells, and battery energy storage, to ensure a stable electricity supply. As part of the current consultation, the FTC is evaluating the rate(s) for a project of this scale and type—or, more specifically, the methodology for calculating such a rate,» the strategic advisor emphasized.
He emphasized that consumers are not charged this fee.
Rogers said, «We need a rate to sell the electricity we generate to the Barbados Light and Power Company. Current law does not allow independent power producers to sell electricity to third parties. The project will generate and supply electricity exclusively to the power company.»
Meshia Clarke, a development specialist, said that 150 jobs will be created during the construction phase, while an additional 20 permanent employees are expected to work during the operation and maintenance phase of the hydrogen plant and at the sheep farm, «which is expected to house 800 black-bellied sheep.».
Clarke, who is in charge of environmental, social, and governance communications, as well as gender and project communications for HDF Caribbean, revealed that there will be job opportunities in other fields, such as transportation.
«During construction, there will be many tasks to handle, particularly in the areas of transportation and logistics related to the project,» she said in Barbados TODAY . «The project will utilize local resources and available technical firms, to the extent possible, in areas such as site preparation, electrical services, and communications.»
The project has already been approved under the Urban Planning and Land Use Plan, has been duly authorized by the Ministry of Energy, and has passed the required environmental impact assessment (EIA).
