THE Barbados Light & Power (BL& P) rental of temporary Aggreko generator units is necessary at this stage.
Managing director Roger Blackman made that point while explaining their reasoning.
“You’ve heard a lot in the press yesterday [Tuesday] about our rental generation. The reason that rental generation is necessary is because as the demand rises on the island, those capacity needs must be met by dispatchable power.
“So that rental is there in the short term, to achieve that objective while we get batteries and solar and build out the energy goals that have been set for the island,” Blackman said.
He made those comments during the launch of the Procurement Proceedings for the supply of up to 60 MW of energy storage from Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) on a Build, Own and Operate Basis at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St Michael.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Barbadians are set to pay slightly higher electricity bills as the BL& P Power recovers the cost of fuel needed to operate temporary generator units.
In an October 29 decision, the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) approved the utility’s application to use the Fuel Clause Adjustment (FCA) to recover the rental and operating costs of 11 megawatts (MW) of temporary Aggreko generator units.
The FTC, however, said it would “immediately” be conducting an investigation into why the electricity company’s gas turbine unit 4 (GT04) was “unexpectedly” out of commission.
The FTC also said the impact on customers “is a critical consideration [and] the proposed rate
adjustment will result in a modest increase in monthly bills as the estimated $856 046 is passed on to customers”.
The increase was criticised by some Barbadians and the Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network.
Meanwhile, Blackman said the launch of the battery procurement process was critical.
He said although the country had made gains in the renewable energy sector, would have to be done.
“We’ve been very successful as an island with solar penetration. We are at the global forefront with 100 MW on the grid already. To continue that momentum and continue building on past successes the batteries are needed to unlock that and provide firm capacity so that the solar we put on, we can dispatch in the same way we would conventional generation.
“For renewable energy sources like solar and wind to achieve high levels of percentage installation on the grid, it is necessary for us to have storage that allows us to stabilize things and dispatch that energy in a firm way. This is a critical step in that process.
“Those are the two key objectives that are being met with the launch of this project, and I look forward to participation . . . to ensure that we achieve the goals the island has set,” he said. (TG)
