Sedn december 2015

Sustainable Energy & Development News

VOL.1 DECEMBER 2015

THE MONTHLY REVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & DEVELOPMENT NEWS IN THE CARIBBEAN FROM THE REGION”S LEADING INFORMATION PLATFORMS

This publication is prepared by the Caribbean Energy Information System

What’s Happening Across The Region...

Saint Lucia Showcases Its Renewable Energy Transition Caribbean — Today, in keeping with its promise to transition to 35% renewable energy for electricity generation by 2020 and reduce electricity consumption in the Public Sector by 20% by 2020 ...

Read more Government Expects Renewable Energy Projects To Take Off In 2016 The development of renewable energy in the federation, specifically geothermal and wind, is being seen as one of the avenues for job creation that the government expects to come onstream in a meaningful way in the upcoming year.

Read more The Deadly Impact of Climate Change on the Caribbean This week sees the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference in Le Bourget, France with US President Barack Obama taking centre stage in seeking an ...

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DECEMBER 2015 IN REVIEW BE IN THE KNOW ON RENEWABLE ENERGY

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The Fourth International Conference On Energy, Water and Environment Science (ICEWES) 2015 December 15-17 Al Hamra Convention Center, Hilton Al Hamra Beach & Golf Resort World Future Energy Summit January 18 – 21, 2016 ABU DHABI National Exhibition Centre, Reed Exhibitions Middle East, Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE) 2016 23-25 February 2016, EICC, Edinburgh SMART WATER SYSTEMS April 25 – 26, 2016 Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London

30-12-2015 ||CUC: Alternative Energy Program Nearing Capacity The Caribbean Utilities Company has confirmed that its CORE alternative energy generation program, which allows residents and businesses to sell solar power back to the grid, is nearing capacity. The power company acknowledged Tuesday that it may have to stop accepting new entrants into the CORE, or Consumer Owned Renewable Energy program in January. Charles Farrington, managing director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority, said he expected the program would be ... Read more 29-12-2015 || February Completion For Wigton III On Track The construction of Wigton III, the 24- megawatt (MW) expansion of the Wigton Windfarm in Rose Hill, Manchester, is slated to be completed on time and within budget. A February completion was set for the US$45million construction project which is being implemented by the renowned Spanish wind energy company, Gamesa, under a turnkey contract. Work got under way in April 2015 and to date, 12 G80-2.0-MW wind turbines have been installed at the wind farm complex and a new transmission line, substation and control building have been built... Read more 24-12-2015 || Morningstar Controller Enables Backup Power In The Caribbean Newtown, PA, December 24, 2015 -- Morningstar’s TriStar MPPT 600V Solar Controller with DC Transfer Switch has been deployed successfully to retrofit an existing grid-tied solar system with battery backup in Barbados. Future Energy Caribbean, a provider of solar energy solutions, added the Morningstar controller, a Solis inverter, Trojan batteries, and other balance of system components ... Read more 21-12-2015 ||Minister Paulwell Turns On Lights In Penn Street Residents of the rural district of Penn Street in York Circle, Clarendon, now have electricity in their homes, following installation work done by National Energy Solutions Limited (NESol) at a cost of $5 million. The project involved the installation of 1.1 kilometres of electrical distribution lines to facilitate the connection of some 15 households and six street lights to the national grid. Read more

REPORTS Study on the Development of the Renewable Energy Market in Latin America and the Caribbean Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap (C-SERMS) Phase 1 Summary and Recommendations for Policymakers Energy Security in the Caribbean : Unique Challenges Perspective Paper February 2015

DOCUMENTS National Energy Plan - Final Draft Commonwealth of Dominica

Power Systems of the Future A 21stCentury Power Partnership Thought Leadership Report

UNIVERSAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS Understanding the Transformational Challenge for Developed Countries

Millennium Development Goal 8 Taking Stock of the Global Partnership for Development

20-12-2015 || Tax Credit Extension Is Good News For Homeowners, Clean Energy Industry Piedmont, SD, December 20, 2015 --(PR.com)-- When Congress voted Friday to extend the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit for solar, wind and other clean energy systems, lawmakers gave budget-conscious homeowners a big Christmas gift, according to Tim Teeslink of GenPro Energy Solutions in Piedmont. “The credit really cuts the upfront cost of solar and wind — making the long-term ... Read more 17-12- 2015 || Government Contemplating Wind And Waste To Energy Solutions Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 17, 2015 (SKNIS)—Minister of Public Infrastructure, The Honourable Ian Liburd, has assured the public that whatever arrangements the government will enter into regarding alternative energy must be in the interest and benefit of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. The minister, a guest on the government’s radio programme “Working For You,” spoke of the discussions the ... Read more 15-12-2015 ||High Energy Costs Push NIC Towards Alternative Power Sources As is the case with most local operations, the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) says energy eats up a large chunk of its operational expenses, with the State-run company spending close to $500 million on electricity in 2014/2015. This accounted for 40 per cent of its operating costs, and already for this year, the commission’s electricity bill is at ... Read more 14-12-2015 || St Kitts-Nevis Looks To Geothermal Energy As Possible Solution To High Electricity Costs Basseterre, St Kitts (SKNIS) -- The government of St Kitts and Nevis is of the view that geothermal energy can be the solution to the high cost of electricity generated from fossil fuel in the federation. Speaking on the government’s weekly radio and television programme last Wednesday, minister of public infrastructure, posts, urban development and transport, Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd, recounted the words of a former St Kitts and Nevis leader that when he saw the electricity bill of an elderly person he wanted to cry. Liburd said, “This statement really epitomises the state of electricity in ... Read more 11-12-2015 || ROC (TAIWAN) Again Contributes To Renewable Energy Development and RLB Upgrades in St. Kitts and Nevis Energy Development and RLB Upgrades in St. Kitts and Nevis Company Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 11, 2015 (SKNIS): Officials from the St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority (SCASPA) and the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC) thanked the Government and people of the Republic of China ROC (Taiwan) for the donation of US$600,000 to be used for upgrades at the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport (RLB) and the final stage of the development of the solar farm .. Read more 08-12-2015 || Saint Lucia To Solarise GG’s Dwelling The initiative will see to the installation of a 10kW gridconnected solar-photovoltaic system on Saint Lucia’s Government House, the official residence of the Governor General.

Making the announcement at the Paris climate-change meeting now underway in Le Bourget, Minister for Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology Dr James Fletcher said: “The renewable energy revolution is essential and exciting. It allows vulnerable Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like ours to reduce public ... Read more

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08-12-2015 || Caribbean Governments’ Warning On Climate Change As Antigua Airport Gets 3MWp PV plant A 3MWp solar power plant connected to energy storage has been completed at Antigua’s VC Bird International airport, part of a wider 10MWp project for the island.Developed by the government of Antigua and Barbuda with British developer PV Energy Ltd, the installation will generate around 4.645MWh of power annually, with PV Energy set to also develop the remaining 7MWp of capacity. Built on Switzerland ... Read more 07-12-2015 || Swedish Ambassador Talks Renewable Energy In Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados (BGIS) -- Renewable energy was a major talking point when Sweden’s ambassador to Barbados, Claes Hammar, paid a farewell call on the acting minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Steve Blackett. Hammar restated the benefits Barbados stood to gain from the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA), a department under Sweden’s ministry of the environment. He noted that for small island developing states like Barbados, SEA focused on the creation of resilience in the energy sector against climatic effects; the strengthening of ... Read more 04-12-2015 || Cheap Oil Causing Energy Complacency In recent weeks, there have been a number of conferences and workshops in Barbados with both local and regional participants. The focus has all been on the tremendous benefits the Caribbean’s small island states will gain by moving towards renewable energy and energy efficiency The term energy security is being used more and more now to describe the purpose of the mandate. These workshops normally have a select number of people who attend, people who are interested in and understand the benefits of the country fully embracing renewable... Read more 04-12-2015 || Reaching For Renewables Port of Spain, Trinidad, Dec 04 2015 – The Caribbean region stands to lose an estimated $US22 billion annually by the year 2050 due to climaterelated natural disasters if climate change is allowed to continue its devastation. One way to curb this wanton wastage is through incentivised investment in the establishment of renewable energy infrastructure. he first to bat must be Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). As the largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the Caribbean and with the second highest per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint in the ... Read more 03-12-2015 || Use less Energy This Christmas, PCJ Pleads The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) has embarked on a public education campaign aimed at encouraging citizens to use less energy during the Christmas holidays. “Christmas is usually a high usage period for electricity. People are just burning more energy with the various events and activities associated with the holiday season, so at PCJ, we thought it was very important to get out there early with the energy conservation messages,” said manager for... Read more 03-12-2015 || PV Energy Ltd. Joins Antiguan’s And Barbudan’s In Solar Power Awareness Given the 30% rise in energy demand in only one decade – caused by increasing industrialization and regional development in the Caribbean – the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GOAB) is looking to augment the fossil fuel based energy supply by renewable energy in order to bridge the power gaps and reduce the twin-island’s reliance ... Read more

DECEMBER 2015 IN REVIEW

BE IN THE KNOW ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE 28-12-2015 || Sections of Eastern Caribbean Jolted By Earthquake Bridgetown, Barbados (CMC) – An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 rocked the islands of Martinique, St Lucia and Dominica early Monday..

The University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Centre (SRC), reports that the quake that occurred at a 2:55 am, had a depth of 147 km..

It was located nine kilometres northwest of Fort de France ... Read more

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28-12-2015 || Clean-up Project a Catalyst For Self-reliance Mandeville, Manchester — Twelve communities in Manchester Central have been part of a clean-up and beautification competition since June.

Each received $15,000 from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) of Member of Parliament Peter Bunting and got the support of the Social Development Commission (SDC) to improve the overall ... Read more 22-12-2015 || Govt Approved $28ma Loan Toof Improve of their communities and put For in place system disasterWater and proper Supply The Caribbean Development Bank has approved a $28m loan to assist the government in improving water supply systems in communities in New Providence and the Family Islands, CDB officials said yesterday.

In a statement, CDB officials said $28.33m USD in financing has been approved to aid the government’s Water Supply Improvement... Read more 21-12-2015 || Caribbean Has No Cause To Celebrate Paris Climate Agreement The results of the Climate Change conference in Paris (COP21) give no reason for small island states to cheer. The agreement reflects many promises and little action. The one item of concrete action is merely an undertaking to evaluate carbon emissions every five years - and even that has no teeth.

What is not in the agreement is a firm, legally binding ... Read more

BE IN THE KNOW ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE & renewable energy

Content Administrator, CIPORE Caribbean Energy Information System (CEIS), Scientific Research Council (SRC), Hope Gardens, Kingston 6, Jamaica W.I. 876-927-1779(w) | 876-977-1840(f) | ceis@src-jamaica.org www.ceis-caribenergy.org www.src-jamaica.org

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17-12-2015 || Businesses Urged To Support Mosquito Eradication Campaign Health Minister Horace Dalley has called for the full support of the business sector in the campaign to destroy mosquito breeding sites across the island, As the Government intensifies preparedness for any possible introduction of the Zika Virus (ZikV). “We cannot sit and wait ... Read more 16-12-2015|| National Irrigation Commission Moves To Boost Efficiency With Government subventions, the company is barely breaking even and is hobbled by losses due in large part to an antiquated delivery infrastructure. But since last year it has been rehabilitating pumps and wells that have been out of commission, training ... Read more 15-15-2015 || T&T PM Warns Nationals Port of Spain, Trinidad (CMC) – Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley Tuesday warned Trinidad and Tobago nationals that the quality of life they now enjoy is in great danger if they don’t “behave properly” given the economic challenges facing the oil-rich twin island republic.

Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran last week ... Read more 14-12-2015 || Businesses Get Climate Certainty They Wanted; Now for Action With the new global climate deal, businesses around the world got the long-term certainty that they had been clamoring for — now they need to back up the shift to a greener world with cold hard ... Read more 14-12-2015|| Rainwater Harvesting Laws Still Outstanding The government is getting set to issue new policy guidelines for rainwater harvesting although laws to support the policy remain outstanding.

The disclosure was made in responses to questions tabled in the Senate

by Opposition member, Dr Christopher Tufton. The government says the policy will be issued to the planning authorities and relevant...Read more 14-12-2015 || NEPA Puts Brake On Approval Of Over-Water Structures The National Environmental Planning Agency (NEPA) has put on hold approvals for all over-water structures as the Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Robert Pickersgill makes ... Read more 10-12-2015|| B’dos Environment Minister Reiterates Concern About Sea Level Rise Paris, France (CMC) — Barbados’ Environment Minister Denis Lowe has pointed to rising sea levels as a major concern for his country and other low-lying states, saying several aspects of the economy are being impacted by the change. Lowe is among regional ministers ... Read more 03-12-2015 || Dominica Lost Almost All Its GDP Due To Climate Change, Says World Bank Roseau, Dominica – Tropical Storm Erika wiped out 90 per cent of Dominica’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the rapid damage and impact assessment conducted by the island’s government in collaboration with the World Bank, United Nations, and other development ... Read more 01-12-2015 ||Pushing the Caribbean Agenda in Paris - St KittsNevis PM makes Impassioned Plea at Climate Change Conference Paris, France (CMC) – St Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris has called on the international community to “negotiate and agree a legally-binding agreement with ambitious emission reduction targets”. Addressing the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention ... Read more