03
SUSTAINABLE ISSUE 03.20 06/19
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
ANSA MCAL ABB POWER GRIDS
CLEANMAX ANTIGUA PUBLIC
UTILITIES AUTHORITY
WILLIAMS
SOLAR MIDDLE EAST SOLAR INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION ALSO FEATURED THIS ISSUE BNOCL • DAVIS & SHIRTLIFF • PLUS MUCH MORE
S U S TA I N I N G T O M O R R O W. T O D AY
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|1
SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
SUSTAINING TOMORROW. TODAY www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
2 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
SBM Media Ltd - Henderson Business Centre, 51 Ivy Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 8BF, United Kingdom • T: +44 (0)1603 516519 Email: info@sustainablebusinessmagazine.net www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
Editor:
George Newell
Senior Writers:
Marcus Bonnano
Liam Pritchett
Contributing Writers: Ciara Jack
Sustainable Business Magazine is committed to promoting sustainable printing. This magazine is printed on Forest Stewardship Council certified material and manufactured using environmentally sustainable procedures. All lithographic printer inks used are vegetable-based.
Alice Rycroft
Projects Manager:
Helen Stoneley
Sales Manager:
Jake Curtis
Editorial Executive:
Shaun Peacock
Sales Executive:
Oliver Clegg
Web Administrator: Ashley Hewitt
Welcome to the latest edition of Sustainable Business Magazine.
CONTENTS ISSUE 03/20
It has been 10 months since the first COVID-19 symptoms were reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since then, we have seen vast political, economic, and social transformations across the world, as the movement of people has been restricted on an unprecedented scale in an attempt to prevent virus patients from overwhelming health services.
04
For many of us, the last few months have been a story of gradual adaptation to the virus. Some of us have returned to our offices, or begun meeting clients – at a distance – in person again. Projects which were put on hold have been tentatively resumed. It has been possible to begin cautiously strategizing for the future again.
12 Foreword - Middle East Solar
As organizations and business begin imagining what the world might look like in the aftermath of this extraordinary time, it’s vital that we don’t return to some old, bad habits. For one thing, officials say that a widely-available vaccine remains unlikely until at least early 2021 – which would still represent one of the most extraordinary public health achievements in human history. Digital technology and remote working saved many businesses this year; should more lockdowns be necessary, they may again. The consequent drop in business and personal travel has also resulted in a profound drop in global carbon emissions. Many businesses plan to continue investing in teleconferencing, cutting down on the unnecessary costs and environmental impacts associated with unnecessary travel. The pandemic has also allowed many organizations to reassess their role in the other great environmental and social crises of our time. We’ve seen what it looks like when societies implement massive-scale changes to overcome difficult problems. We’ve seen how people and organizations are willing to make sacrifices for the public good. We must now begin planning for a future where we muster the same urgency to tackle challenges of environmental and social justice. Businesses across the world have been spearheading these movements. In this issue of SBM, we feature technology companies which are investing in an electric future, energy providers which are clearing the path for the widespread adoption of renewable energy, manufacturers who are reconsidering waste. We believe some of these pioneers offer a path forward as we all imagine a post-pandemic world. We hope you find this issue interesting and inspiring. The Sustainable Business Magazine Team
Foreword - Canadian Chamber of Commerce
06 Interview - ABB Power Grids
Industries Association
14 Interview - CleanMax 18 Foreword - Energy Institute
Middle East
20 Interview - Tadhg O’Donovan
at Heriot-Watt University
24 Interview - Davis & Shirtliff 28 Interview - ANSA McAL 34 Foreword - CARILEC 36 Interview - Antigua Public
Utilities Authority
42 Interview - Williams Solar 46 Interview - Barbados
National Oil Company
51 Advert Index ISSUE 03/20 FRONT COVER THIS IMAGE IS COURTESY OF BNOCL
© SBM Media Ltd 2020. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher.
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|3
FOREWORD: CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
CANADIAN INNOVATORS The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is proud to support Sustainable Business Magazine’s ‘Canadian Innovators’ series, recognizing the achievements of the Canadian business community in driving a new, sustainable economy in Canada and around the world.
There have been many sobering lessons from COVID-19. No doubt, as we see the impacts of lockdown fall unevenly across our communities, we are reminded of the need to urgently address inequality through more inclusive growth. As we see nations struggle to convince their citizens to adhere to public health measures, we are reminded of the grave implications of waning public trust in our collective institutions. These lessons will define generations. Another insight gleaned from the virus is the challenge we face in achieving global 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
emission targets. To keep warming at a 1.5 degree scenario, global emissions need to fall by an average of 7.6% each year. As most analysts know, we have yet to come anywhere close to achieving this type of reduction. 2020 will be the exception. It is estimated that global emissions will drop 8% this year. Our success, though unintended, has come at catastrophic and untold economic and social costs. The insight should not go unheeded: if we have only achieved our emission targets through the lockdown of more than a third of the world’s
population, we must begin to recognize the profound entanglement of our economies with our energy supply. The scope of innovation and the scale of implementation in but a few short decades will be without parallel in human history. For Canada, this will require a pathway to net-zero by 2050 that is inclusive of all of Canada’s industries, predictable, and feasible. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has been proud to champion this vision on behalf of Canada’s business community. We have long advocated governments to create public policy that will allow businesses of all sizes to innovate and drive Canada’s transition to a low carbon economy. We recognize that there is no silver bullet when it comes to tackling climate change. As part of our commitment, we have been at the forefront of making a clear place for the important role a revenue-neutral carbon pricing regime can play in giving business the resources to make critical innovations.
We also recognize that while carbon pricing is an important tool, it alone is insufficient. For this reason, we continue to advocate on the importance of finding other ways to drive emission-reducing technologies, such as modernizing infrastructure, incentivizing carbon capture and storage systems, and making further changes to Canada’s regulatory environment to ensure we can lead the transition to a low-carbon economy from an economic position of strength. As Sustainable Business Magazine readers will see in the features from our members, the task ahead of government is not to lead Canada’s transition to a lower carbon economy; it is to catch up with Canadian industries that are already leading the charge. The opportunity that the 21st century holds for Canada is far greater than achieving our nationally-determined contribution to the Paris Agreement. Rather, Canada can achieve its own targets and be a leader in the world’s global transition to a lower carbon economy. Canada has almost all the resources it needs to achieve this aim: the technologies, the workforce, the metals, and the energy to be a global leader on climate action. The resources we lack are the political will and clarity of vision from our politicians to effectively seize the opportunities that lie before us. As you will no doubt see in this issue, this has not stopped Canada’s business community from leading the way. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is Canada’s largest business association, representing 200,000 businesses through a network of over 450 chambers of commerce and boards of trade. Learn more about our work at http://www.chamber.ca/
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|5
INTERVIEW: HITACHI ABB POWER GRIDS
ELECTRICITY INNOVATORS Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Bill Strohecker, Country Managing Director at Hitachi ABB Power Grids Canada, about electrifying transportation, microgrids, and the power of digitization.
6 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
By Liam Pritchett Hitachi ABB Power Grids, a joint venture between technology giants Hitachi and ABB, is the descendant of ABB’s longstanding Power Grids unit. Operating under the Hitachi name since July 1st 2020, Hitachi ABB Power Grids offers products, systems, and service solutions designed to meet a growing demand for electricity with minimal environmental impacts. “For a long time, we have been a global leader in helping utilities around the world control and manage their energy systems,” explains Bill Strohecker, Country Managing Director at Hitachi ABB Power Grids Canada. “Now, as Hitachi ABB Power Grids, we aim to lead in the transformation of energy systems, facilitating the safe, reliable, and efficient integration of bulk and distributed energy resources generated from both conventional and renewable sources. We’re widely recognized in this space globally and have a substantial presence here in Canada.”
transmission and distribution systems. In 1883, at the dawn of electrification in Europe and North America, Ludvig Fredholm founded Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) in Västerås, Sweden, manufacturing electricity generators and lights. A few years later, in Baden, Switzerland, Brown, Boveri & Compagnie was founded to manufacture electrical components for railways. Over the years, both companies have remained at the cutting edge of electric technology in Europe and internationally, before merging in 1988 to form technology giant ABB. Today, Hitachi ABB Power Grids is in a position to leverage both Hitachi and ABB’s history of innovation.
DIGITAL FUTURE Since the days of the arc lamp, Hitachi ABB Power Grids – or rather its predecessor companies – has been involved the birth of new technologies across the breadth of SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|7
INTERVIEW: HITACHI ABB POWER GRIDS
“A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF THE ELECTRICITY USED BY THAT FIRST NATION IS NOW PRODUCED BY SOLAR POWER, AND WE HAVE OFFSET TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TONS OF HARMFUL EMISSIONS BY INTEGRATING SOLAR INTO THE POWER SUPPLY” “The future of Hitachi ABB Power Grids is really driven by the application of digital technology,” says Mr. Strohecker. “When this is applied to power grids, it helps to coordinate the interplay between alternative energy sources and mainline generating and the distribution capabilities of grid operators. By applying digital to aging infrastructure, existing utilities and industry will be able to meet new regulations and better balance distributed energy and resources, implement cybersecurity measures, and give our customers greater control and optimization of their power networks.”
8 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SHORE-TO-SHIP ELECTRICITY One key facet of Hitachi ABB Power Grids’s work is in the electrification of transportation infrastructure. “Electrification aids in the decarbonization of society,” says Mr. Strohecker. “One of the ways we can decarbonize our economy our society is by electrifying places where fossil fuels are used, which is one of the reasons that electric cars and electric vehicles have been so popular. Where we see a trend all around the world right now is in the electrification of bus fleets and delivery fleets. It is quite a project when a city decides to electrify its bus fleet, so the
services that we are providing are scoping and engineering services, in order to help a bus authority understand how they will electrify. Subsequently, we will also deliver the associated infrastructure and grid connection required.” Electrification in shipping will be another essential component of decarbonizing transportation. “We’ve been working on the application of shore-to-ship electricity, in order to allow ships to switch from diesel fuel to electricity as they dock,” says Mr. Strohecker. “We secured a pilot program with Port of Vancouver back in 2017-2018 to supply shore power equipment for the Deltaport Shore Power Project, which is located in Roberts Bank in Delta, British Columbia.” “Shore power, which is also known as cold ironing or alternative marine power, is the process of providing electrical power from the shore to a ship while it is docked,” explains Mr. Strohecker. “This allows the ship’s auxiliary engines to be turned off and the burning of diesel fuel to cease. Generally, ships generate emissions while docked in port by running their auxiliary engines to create all the onboard electric power. And in ports with heavy foot traffic, this practice creates emissions and has a negative health and environmental impact to the surrounding communities. So we’re really proud to have been able to work with the Port of Vancouver to electrify this first port of theirs. We believe that through the electrification of ports across the country, we can help to reduce the pollution created by the burning of fossil fuels when ships are docked.” GULL BAY MICRO GRID Electrifying transportation is a vital first step. The next is to ensure that consumers have access to reliable, clean energy whenever they need it, not just when the sun shines or the wind blows – and this means storage. “We have great experience
in energy storage,” says Mr. Strohecker. “In some locations, a 40MW battery, for example, can displace an idling combined-cycle power plant and provide spinning reserve for a period of time while a gas turbine or combined cycle plant runs from zero load to its minimum load. A battery, if properly applied, can provide the spinning reserve that would normally be applied through the burning of fossil fuel. Batteries and the application of batteries is a really interesting technology, where we’re playing quite a leadership role in its application to distribution and transmission grids.”
Another area where Hitachi ABB Power Grids have applied storage technology is in microgrids. “A key part of what Hitachi ABB Power Grids is focusing on is the application of energy storage solutions like battery to help remote, rural, and island communities transition away from fossil fuel-based energy generation like diesel generators toward more widespread use of renewables,” says Mr. Strohecker. “One project which opened in August 2019 was with the Gull Bay First Nation, which has relied on diesel engines for many years to provide electricity for their community. They petitioned to offset SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|9
INTERVIEW: HITACHI ABB POWER GRIDS
“THIS WILL BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US AS HITACHI ABB POWER GRIDS TO BRING SOME OF OUR EXPERTISE TO FULL RAIL TRANSPORT ELECTRIFICATION PROJECTS”
10 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
the electricity produced by diesel engines with clean renewable energy produced by solar cells. We worked with Ontario Power Generation and provided technology in the form of the battery storage system and the microgrid control system that enabled the Gull Bay First Nation to offset diesel power with clean solar power.” “A substantial amount of the electricity used by that First Nation is now produced by solar power, and we have offset tens of thousands of tons of harmful emissions by integrating solar into the power supply,” says Mr. Strohecker. “Canada is a country with hundreds of remote communities, many of which are First Nations, and many of which rely on diesel to provide electricity to those communities. There’s just a great opportunity for us as a society to first decarbonize and reduce fossil emissions, and second to help improve the lives of those people who rely on that diesel-fueled power.” The company also has a new refurbishing facility in Hamilton, Ontario, which remanufactures power transformers. “Our Stoney Creek Service Center’s whole mission is to take ageing power infrastructure assets and provide rebuilding, repair, and reusing services,” says Mr. Strohecker. “Now, when a power transformer reaches a certain place in their useful life, rather than scrapping 160-300 metric tons of steel and copper, we are refurbishing.” NEW FRONTIERS “We’re very excited to be a part of Hitachi,” says Mr. Strohecker. “Hitachi is a global leader in sustainable energy solutions, and it’s great to be part of the Hitachi family, which has made a name for itself for its commitment to sustainability and making life better for people through electrification. As a part of Hitachi, we expect to play a key role in decarbonization through electrification. For example, through rail electrification. Hitachi is one of the world’s
largest suppliers of rail systems and rail trains, and we know that here in Canada this will be a great opportunity for us to bring some of our expertise to full rail transport electrification projects. Another area I know there is a great future is the digitization of assets. Things like asset performance can be optimized, and consequently a customer’s capital and maintenance investments can be made more intelligently when there need is at the best point in time. So the application of digital is a whole other opportunity. We’re extremely excited about the future.” c
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 11
FOREWORD: MESIA
SOLAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST A foreword by Alexandre Allegue, Vice President of the Middle East Solar Industry Assocation. The Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization with the mission to expand the use of solar power in the Middle East and Norther Africa (MENA) region. MESIA is headquartered in Dubai, UAE, and we aim to grow a solar community, providing networking opportunities for solar professionals through briefings and conferences, and actively participating in national and international tradeshows. As the main solar trade association in the region, we are pleased to support Sustainable Business Magazine’s new ‘Solar in the Middle East’ series. 12 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
BUILDING A NETWORK MESIA was founded in 2009 by Vahid Fotuhi, formerly of BP Solar, and Professor Georgeta Vidican-Auktor from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. They, and all the other key pioneers of the solar industry here, realized that there was no independent party that could help us advocate for solar and help put everyone together in the same room. Since then, we have managed to build our credibility, gathering together all the relevant industrial players as members or partners. Today, MESIA has over 120 local, regional, and international mem-
bers, including blue chip companies and founder members. We aim to promote solar power and the solar industry at large across the full value chain in the MENA region. Renewables in general and solar, in particular, are a good fit for this region, as although we are talking about some of the biggest oil producers, there are is still a fuel security component which renewables can provide. NATURAL RESOURCE Solar offers a competitive solution in this region, as we have an abundance of excellent resources for solar. One square meter of solar in Saudi Arabia would produce 2.3 times more energy than what it would produce in Germany. The end result, which is the tariff, is much more competitive, and today, you often won’t even need subsidies for solar energy to pick up. The availability of land in this part of the world is also a huge benefit. Attractive land is essential for renewables, particularly as there is an enormous growth in the energy demand as countries are emerging and booming. Wherever there is big industrial or demographic growth, countries will need more and more power Saudi Arabia, for example, has one of the most significant increases in energy demand growth in the world. This boom can easily be met with a cheap, renewable source of energy such as solar. GROWING TOGETHER There is a huge energy demand in this region, and countries are implementing massive renewable energy plans, such as Saudi Arabia’s plan to have 40 gigawatts of solar renewables by 2030. There are also very young populations, which means that job creation is important to avoid unemployment in the future. So there is
a beautiful opportunity for countries to localize the value chain, create jobs, and to control the full industry. The solar industry in the Middle East is fragmented and not mature yet, so it’s very important to allow all the players to mingle and connect, in order to understand how they can lobby together. At MESIA, we create networking opportunities for solar professionals and share information and resources via yearly reports – and, currently, webinars – to help support industry growth. We also organize award events where MESIA distributes awards to Solar Companies & Entrepreneur of the year.
In the future, we’re expecting to see a growth of renewables in the region, not only in number of projects and capacity, but as well in technology mix and innovation. On the utilities scale, it will become challenging for small to medium players to participate, due to the heavier qualification requirements. On the other hand, we believe that there’s also going to be a growth of distributed energy and rooftop solar which will develop a whole new industry. We’re all just waiting for the readiness of regulators and grid management to absorb different energy profiles. Learn more about MESIA and our work at our website: http://www.mesia.com
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 13
INTERVIEW: CLEANMAX
SOLAR SAVINGS FROM DAY ONE
CLEANMAX ROOFTOP SOLAR PLANT, ACADEMIC CITY, DUBAI
14 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
CLEANMAX ROOFTOP SOLAR PLANT, DANUBE, DUBAI
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks with Sushant Arora, Co-founder and CEO (MENA) at CleanMax, about incentivizing renewable energy generation, regional differences in solar projects, and the changing energy needs of large corporations. By Ciara Jack In 2010, CleanMax founder Kuldeep Jain saw a window of opportunity to encourage multinationals to not only use clean energy, but also allay their fears surrounding longerterm, green investments. Today, Indian-headquartered renewable energy company CleanMax’s solutions apply straightforward incentives when it comes to appealing to investors: Low fuss, minimal risk, and a hands-off approach to maintenance. Sushant Arora, came in as a co-founder during those early years. He explains: “We saw a lot of corporations at the time – especially the very large multinational corporations with lofty aspirations - wanting to go up to 100% renewable in their energy buying, but unable to achieve even a fraction of this in reality.” Historically, solar energy has required a persuasive argument to get it into the hands of buyers. “If you’re large manufacturing or logistics company for example, you would have maybe a 3 or 5 year – at most – payback for your capital investments,” says Mr. Arora. “Whereas renewable energy investments are typically much longer: 10 to 12 years. It’s actually very capital intensive, especially when you compare it to other investments that these companies make.”
By offering a straightforward, low-risk product, CleanMax have accumulated 600 megawatts’ worth of operational projects. “We are one of the largest developer of commercial or industrial solar assets in Asia,” says Mr. Arora. “And in India we can very proudly say that no-one else has nearly the same volume of projects deployed compared to us.” HARNESSING DOUBT Rather than evading unappealing questions about long-term investments, CleanMax embraces them. Their approach was to take the pressure off the businesses. “We’ll achieve it in a way that we invest and not you, and we’ll do it so that the completely outsourced expertise belongs to us,” explains Mr. Arora. CleanMax don’t expect their buyers to recruit a separate team to manage their tech, which is all supplied in-house. “The skills set for how to run a solar power plant and how to maintain one, is new and continues to be an evolving skills set, which is not terribly commonplace,” says Mr. Arora. “Renewable energy was terribly new when we started, and even now is significantly newer than most other established industries. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 15
INTERVIEW: CLEANMAX CLEANMAX FARM, SEDAM, INDIA, 145 MW
From 2010-14, we quickly became India’s number one rooftop solar developer. We had something like 20-25% market share, and we were only in India at the time.” ENTERING THE MIDDLE EAST Prior to their move into the United Arab Emirates (UAE), CleanMax were still an India-based company, but in 2017 funding put the wind in their sails. “We got the World Bank, whose investment arm is the International Finance Corporation; they came in as an investor,” says Mr.Arora. “We also got Warburg Pincus, which is a big American private equity company, and they came in during our first large expansion.” That aided CleanMax’s expansion into the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The key difference between the Middle East market and India is the business environment surrounding solar installations. “In India, we tend to do a lot of large private CLEANMAX ROOFTOP SOLAR PLANT, INDIAN ACADEMY, DUBAI
16 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
CLEANMAX ROOFTOP SOLAR PLANT, DANUBE, DUBAI
solar parks, which is a little different in so far as a the solar park is not on your premises but it’s in a rural part of the state, basically on barren land,” says Mr.Arora. “These can be very large, 100 megawatts or so, and then we use the distribution companies to get solar electricity from there to the urban areas.” In the UAE, meanwhile private infrastructure projects aren’t particularly common. Large-scale power, road and highway, and water projects tend to be government-backed, which means CleanMax projects in the region tend to be rooftop installations. “Given that a lot of the Middle East is desert, which is extremely hot for six months of the year, and there’s a lot of large mall complexes, which tend to be fully air-conditioned, fully closed boxes, with massive roofs, this region is a good target for solar,” explains Mr.Sushant. FAVORABLE CLIMATE The climate in the Middle East means that, during the summer, air conditioning bills ramp up. A solar installation can significantly reduce the resulting energy bill. Meanwhile, a car park full of scorching concrete and dazzling windscreens is also an opportunity for ingenuity. “We set up car parking canopies and we cover it with solar panels,” says Mr.Arora. “So you get a solar carport, because everyone wants the cars to stay cooler, and the heat island effect of the open car park reduces. Now that a lot of people
CLEANMAX FARM, DINDIGUL, INDIA, 30 MW
“YOU DON’T INVEST ANY CAPITAL, BUT YOU START SEEING SAVINGS FROM DAY ONE”
have electric cars, we’re able to use the solar power from the parking canopy and plug in directly to the chargers into the electric vehicle parked underneath, all without using power from the grid.” As well as working with large commercial users, CleanMax recently worked with an educational provider in Dubai, installing solar panels at the Indian Academy Dubai. “The educators are extremely happy, because they now have something on their rooftop they can actually take their
students to,” says Mr. Arora. “Their lab receives live data from our remote plant, so they can run experiments off the data we’re giving them. This means students can understand how power is generated and at what times of day there’s more and less power, as well as its seasonality.” WIN-WIN PROPOSITION “A lot of these corporations have realized that, in the long term, they can’t afford to use unsustainable practices and have to
bring down their own emissions,” says Mr. Arora. “This is being implemented at the board level across all Fortune 500 companies. In the past, if you wanted to have a lower electricity bill, you would invest in energy-efficient lighting and bring down the energy bill. Today, though, we own the solar power plant on your roof and then we sell you power from it, which will be cheaper than the grid electricity price today. You don’t invest any capital, but you start seeing savings from day one.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 17
FOREWORD: ENERGY INSTITUTE MIDDLE EAST
FUTURE ENERGY A foreword by Dr. Waddah Ghanem, Honorary Chairman of the Energy Institute Middle East. The Energy Institute (EI) is a membership body for energy professionals with branches and around the world. Our Middle East branch, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, is committed to working with regional institutions to provide opportunities and activities for our members, supporting the professional community here in the Middle East to share knowledge, skills, and best practices. Our main goal is to bring together expertise to meet urgent global challenges, developing a network of professionals who are having an impact across the world of energy for the public good. The Energy 18 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Institute Middle East branch is pleased to support Sustainable Business Magazine’s new ‘Future Energy’ series. Since the Energy Institute Middle East branch was founded in 2012, we have focused on developing capacity and competency in the Middle East. We support the development of renewable energy and low-carbon energy production in the region by giving our members access to the knowledge and wisdom within the Energy Institute. We were set up just after the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy launched the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 (DIES), with
a focus on moving away from conventional energy generation and towards alternatives like solar. We have been able to transfer the experience the Energy Institute has in renewables and conventional energy to contribute to the transformation of the energy sector. The Energy Institute works at two levels: the individual membership, where we help members developing their professional careers, and working with companies across the different levels of membership. In my role at the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), we worked with the Energy Institute to develop our energy managers and energy technicians a few years back. This allowed ENOC to launch an energy and resource management program which led to huge savings in only six years. The Energy Institute’s members typically work in operations, technology, or directly in HSC and sustainability. Many of our younger members are joining from the renewable energy industry. More recently, we activated our Young Professionals Network (YPN). All the events we run are excellent for network-
ing. It’s a good forum to allow people who have experience to meet other people who perhaps have just graduated or have just joined a company. Today, one of the biggest Energy Institute conferences outside of the UK is the Energy Institute Middle East HSC and Sustainability Forums, which have been running for three years now. Those forums have the support of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, and we received a keynote from the Secretary General himself, Mr. Ahmed Al Muhairbi. The next Middle East HSE and Sustainability Week will be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 6 December 2021 – 8 December 2021. Next, we’re currently looking at refreshing our strategy in line with conversations decarbonization and digital transformation. We’re expecting to have a new, refreshed strategy for the next five years, which will be up and running soon. Go to our website to learn more about membership and our work: energyinst.org/ei-near-me/middle-east
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 19
INTERVIEW: PROFESSOR TADHG O’DONOVAN
ENVIRONMENT FOR INNOVATION By Ciara Jack
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks with Professor Tadhg O’Donovan, Professor of Renewable Energy and Sustainability at Heriot-Watt University, about understanding the Middle East market for renewables, storage challenges, and new frontiers in energy generation and distribution. In plenty of ways, the Middle East is the ideal environment for solar electricity generation. Affluent, technology-literate governments; a variety of advanced industries with a growing need for reliable, affordable electricity; plus a high level of solar irradiance and large areas of uninhabited desert which 20 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
cannot be put to productive agricultural use – all these factors combined would seem to suggest the ideal conditions for solar energy to flourish. Yet up until recently, the low cost of fossil fuels and resulting cheap electricity generation in the region led to a much lower
adoption rate for renewable technologies in the Middle East than in than Europe or North America. Over the last few years, however, a new wave of regional investment in renewables has taken place, as Middle Eastern governments seek to diversify their economies away from oil production and implement forward-thinking energy strategies, setting ambitious targets for local, renewable energy generation. For the last two years, Professor Tadhg O’Donovan, has been researching solar energy generation in the Middle East. Having spent the previous ten years working on solar thermal technology at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland – a country not famed for its abundance of sunshine – Professsor O’Donovan came to Heriot-Watt’s Dubai campus in 2018. “I moved out here about two years ago to focus a bit more on developing our research in this environment,” explains Professor O’Donovan. “Initially, the intention was to build up the solar test site here, and to do more work on the characterization front. Then I diversified, a little
bit more along the lines of: What does this market need, and what are the renewable technologies that service the demand here?” ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS Sustainable Business Magazine recently had the chance to speak to Professor O’Donovan about his research in the Middle East, and about the broader trends in the market. “I work with larger groups where we’re talking about how technology can be incorporated in society,” says Professor O’Donovan. “So, from a user perspective: What is the demand? From, an environmental perspective: What is the resource? Essentially, the bridge between that demand and the resource is where we work.” “We try to look at the service-level demand, as opposed to looking at kilowatts or kilowatt-hours; so not always in terms of the electricity,” says Professor O’Donovan. “If you wanted to know what a service level demand is, for example, you might ask: “Do we need cooling or do we need heating?” We would say neither. What we need is thermal-comfort. If you think about it in terms of thermal-comfort, it brings in a whole new range of design variables or opportunities, because that could include architectural design. How we insulate buildings, for example, as opposed to saying: ‘What we need is more kilowatts to run more air conditioning.’ We’re trying to optimize the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) – essentially a ratio between how much money was invested in the project over its lifetime, over how much yield, and we try to use that parameter (LCOE) as a figure of merit for design.” SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 21
INTERVIEW: PROFESSOR TADHG O’DONOVAN
INCENTIVES AND CHALLENGES Professor O’Donovan’s move to the United Arab Emirates now sees him living in The Sustainable City, a new, environmentally-friendly housing development on the outskirts of Dubai, where he finds his energy bills at half of what they otherwise would have been. “In this part of the world, certainly in Dubai, we have an incentive for incorporating solar in the community,” says Professor O’Donovan. “They do zero-net-metering, meaning they’ll sell the energy back to you at the same price they’ll buy it from you, so the grid is essentially your battery.” Moving his research to this region also enabled him to harness the sudden national zeal for renewable energy. “Whether it’s Saudi Arabia, Oman, or Bahrain, they have very ambitious projects,” says Professor O’Donovan. “There’s huge investment going into solar in particular. The next issue is stor-
22 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
age. They’re looking at very large lithium-ion batteries in Abu Dhabi, and trying to make the cost viable will be a challenge.” The Middle East provides the perfect conditions to research solar generation all year round. However, this climate does have its shortcomings, suggesting future advances to be made in the technology. “There are challenges which you might not expect,” says Professor O’Donovan. “High temperatures degrade the performance or reduce the conversion efficiency of solar panels, so it’s not perfect. Then on top of that, dust is a huge issue here, and solar panels need to be cleaned regularly. Whereas you’d be surprised that, in the U.K., solar panels operate at quite a high efficiency, for two reasons. The first reason is that the ambient temperature is lower; and second, they are ‘self-cleaning’, which is a euphemism for saying it rains.” SHARING INNOVATIONS In addition to his responsibilities at the university, Professor O’Donovan is the Honorary Education Secretary at the Energy Institute – Middle East. “The Energy Institute has played a very interesting role in trying to be a mediator between companies that have similar interests, but are competitors as opposed to collaborators,” says Professor O’Donovan. “They’ve always taken an agnostic approach. They’re trying to get the industry to work together; everything from providing health and safety guidance, to sharing technical advancements.” The prospect of new technology being more widely used has exciting potential. “We’ve been getting involved in a couple of projects,” says Professor O’Donovan. “One is a solar cooker for disaster relief
“THE MIDDLE EAST TODAY IS REALLY KEEN TO BE LEADING IN SOME OF THESE AREAS, SO IT ACTUALLY CREATES A NICE ENVIRONMENT FOR INNOVATION AND A POTENTIAL FOR IMPACT.”
areas. That’s by a company called Sunstore Technologies, and they’ve been quite successful in getting investment. Essentially it’s an array of Fresnel lenses that focus the sun onto a spot, and we transfer that heat into a large vat, where you put rice and water, and it cooks several batches in a day.” Then there’s a new approach to building solar photovoltaic panels. “We’re doing a project at the moment on the characterization on bi-facial solar panels,” says Professor O’Donovan. “By bi-facial I mean that they have got the active layer of the solar panel on both sides, meaning that the under layer manages to scavenge a little bit more energy that is reflected from the environment or the ground below. These kinds of projects are probably less traditional for this market, but
it’s just one of the roles we try to play in supporting small- to medium-sized enterprises in developing new technology.” DECENTRALIZED GENERATION “The Middle East today is really keen to be leading in some of these areas, so it actually creates a nice environment for innovation and a potential for impact,” says Professor O’Donovan. “Things can move quite quickly here.” Next, Professor O’Donovan is eager to see a change to the focus on how energy is generated and distributed. “We have inherited the idea of a very centralized energy generation, whether it’s from coal-fired, gas-fired, or even nuclear generation,” says Professor O’Donovan. “By putting in large-
scale renewables, you might question: Why have we stuck with a centralized approach when it could easily be much more integrated, as well as much more evenly-distributed generation, storage, and utilization? Those are much more visionary questions we need to be tackling in the future.” c
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 23
INTERVIEW: DAVIS & SHIRTLIFF 132KWP SOLAR GRID-TIE INSTALLATION IN BUSIA, WESTERN KENYA
ADAPTING TO THE NEW WORLD Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to David Gatende, Group CEO at Davis & Shirtliff, about new projects, technological evolutions, and the future of solar during a global pandemic. By Alice Rycroft The Davis & Shirtliff Group is an East African supplier of water-and energy-related equipment. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and with subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe, as well as a partnership in Ethiopia, Davis & Shirtliff provides customers with a wide variety of products from leading international brands, as well as their own 24 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Dayliff brand. Focussed on seven business segments – water pumps, boreholes, swimming pools, water treatment, generators, solar equipment and irrigation – Davis & Shirtliff supply technologies which efficiently provide water and energy to communities across the East African region, driving local prosperity and economic growth. In 2018, when Sustainable Business Magazine last spoke to Davis & Shirtliff, the
company was in the process of opening new branches throughout the region, as demand for water-related products grew rapidly in Kenya, as well as in Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe. (See Sustainable Business Magazine EMEA edition 03/18 for the full feature.) To accommodate this new demand, Davis & Shirtliff has just completed construction of a new 10,000m2 distribution warehouse in
Tatu Industrial Park, which is expected to allow the company to expand their distribution network in other Eastern and Central African countries. “We have just taken possession of the distribution center, which will include offices and warehousing, and are in the process of transferring stock,” says David Gatende, Group CEO at Davis & Shirtliff. “When we last spoke, we had just registered our presence in Zimbabwe,” says Mr. Gatende. “We are now open there. We have continued opening branches in the nine countries where we are already present the most recent being new branches in Wajir, Kenya, which is in the former North Eastern Frontier District; Isiolo, which is just above the equator; Kericho, where we have the tea growing district; and also a virtual presence in Hola near the Coast. We now have a total of 71 branches, 41 in Kenya and 30 in the other countries, so our growth has continued.” BETTER COMMUNICATION Davis & Shirtliff have embraced advances in digital technology to make it easier to do business across a wide geographical area. “We recently installed a brand-new PABX telephony system in Kenya and have a rollout plan to continue this across the remaining countries, which means I will be able to call any of our nearly 900 staff from an extension. This is a big deal in our part of the world,” says Mr. Gatende. “We have also upgraded our digital apps. We have a solar calculating app called, SolarCalc, which is used by our consulting, technical, and maintenance engineers to specify solar powered solutions as it will tell you how many modules you need, or if a customer wants to use off-grid solar for their house or factory, the app will tell them how much power they’re drawing. In June, we launched a new Borehole Manual and a Pump Catalogue, which have all sorts of new and exciting products; and we’ve made these available on the apps as well. We have continued to climb up the Alexa World Website Ranking, so we’re in the top
SOLAR POWERED WATER TREATMENT PLANT (30M3/HR RO) AT NGARAMTONI, TANZANIA
11.5KWP SOLAR PUMPING SYSTEM AT CHARAGITA, NAKURU, KENYA
230,000, which we’re very pleased about. We’re also now being re-certified by SGS under the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standard.” Davis & Shirtliff have held an annual management conference for over 20 years, which brings together managers from across the business to review the year and strategize for the future. “Our theme in 2018 was ‘Succeeding in the Digital Age’,” says Mr. Gatende. “Last year the theme was ‘Putting Customers First’. As you may well imagine, our focus for 2020-2021 is
8.5KWP SOLARISED KIBIRICHIA HIGH SCHOOL BOREHOLE IN MERU, KENYA
‘Adapting to the New World’. “This year’s conference will for the first time be held online using Microsoft Teams, with about 200 managers participating, and as the theme suggests, we shall be looking to see how to not only survive the COVID-19 pandemic but to thrive,” says Mr. Gatende. SOLAR EXPANSION One notable development is the significant growth in the solar side of Davis & Shirtliff’s business. “In June, we commissioned our largest grid-tie solar system, a 132kW installation which is being used to power a water pumping station and treatment facility in Western Kenya,” says Mr. Gatende. “These grid-tie systems are very popular, and we have several of them deployed because they are so affordable, and they substantially reduce the running cost. In fact, of the seven segments we’re involved in, solar is now 20% of our business, and continues to grow at a faster rate than the other segments. Part of this growth is due to regional governments and NGOs taking a bigger interest in susSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 25
INTERVIEW: DAVIS & SHIRTLIFF TATU DISTRIBUTION WAREHOUSE
“TO IMPROVE PEOPLE’S LIVES BY PROVIDING WATER & ENERGY SOLUTIONS ACROSS AFRICA. WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS IS THAT IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE WEALTHY; IT’S ABOUT EVERYBODY FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID TO THE TOP.” tainable technology, so they’re keen to fund such projects. It’s particularly gratifying to see solar energy being deployed in our region as we straddle the equator and are therefore abundantly blessed with ‘free’ solar power. For example, we completed a very big project in Meru, near Mount Kenya. The county government there, commissioned us to drill and equip one hundred boreholes, and they wanted all of them to be solar powered, each with a 10,000-litre tank on a tower, and each in a fenced off area with a water kiosk to serve the local residents. This has become a flagship project where people from around the region can come and see, for themselves, the impact on the people of Meru.” Davis & Shirtliff have recently began supplying improved solar inverters, for use with large AC submersible, surface, and swimming pool pump systems. ““The inverters, which we’re calling Dayliff Sunverters, now go up to 75kW, which is quite large,” says Mr. Shirtliff. “We can also supply up to 250kW Grundfos Renewable Solar Inverters for AC borehole solarization, especially for large community boreholes and water supply, meant to save on costs on running the pumps, by utilizing solar energy during the day, and with hybrid capability to the 26 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
grid. With the continued reduction in solar module prices and also advances in solar pumping technology, solar pumping has become the default solution for water supply in rural areas, and Davis & Shirtliff is the industry leader, offering a comprehensive range of products for all solar pumping applications. The solar pumping solutions are also offered with remote monitoring solutions, offering 24/7 recording of pump parameters, real-time and historical, and enables alerts via email and SMS in the event of a system problem – before they threaten production. If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.“And what’s more, the worldwide price per kilowatt keeps falling making solar powered solutions even more affordable. This virtuous cycle combined 66KWP SOLAR POWERED RO WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN LAMU, KENYA
with advances in digital technology to switch them on and off have made the viability of solar solutions one of the world’s best kept secrets that we’re trying to let our customers in on! We use the premium SMA inverters from Germany and Victron from the Netherlands and we also import others from Taiwan and China that give excellent value for money. The controls are very, very good now, and we have effective remote monitoring of a much higher capability than what was available a few years ago.” COMMUNITY PROJECTS Davis & Shirtliff continue to drive down costs in order to benefit customers and the latest innovation is an affordable solar powered water pump ideal for communities. “For about USD500 we can now offer a Dayliff Sunflo kit that incorporates a submersible pump capable of delivering 1,000 litres per day using a single two hundred Watt module drawing water from about 30 metres below ground. For a little extra a plastic water tank and tower can also be supplied for a comprehensive solution,” says Mr. Gatende. “We look forward to a day when these pumps will 66KWP SOLAR POWERED RO WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN LAMU, KENYA
replace all handpumps across Africa as hand pumps are now very old fashioned, labour-intensive and inherently unreliable. It’s a great solution and a very exciting technological development.” “Solar is not just being used for pumping; it’s also being used for water treatment,” says Mr. Gatende. “We recently completed an interesting project for communities around Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania near Arusha,
with a local NGO. They’ve used solar modules to power two reverse osmosis water treatment plants and are distributing the potable water to the Ngaramtoni and Hazina villages.” IMPROVING LIVES “Our Chairman, Alec Davis, has set us four immediate to medium term goals,” says Mr. Gatende. “The first is solar where there are so many opportunities. Our solar
business segment will soon overtake water pumps within Davis & Shirtliff, which have been our bread and butter for very many years. Second, the Tatu warehouse has been a multimillion USD project for us and will enable us to achieve expansion into the rest of Africa which has been our ambition. The third goal is that we’re updating our Enterprise Resource Planning software and moving our servers and databases to the Cloud. The final goal is about centralizing group operations so that the branches and subsidiaries can fully benefit from all the processes and procedures that the headquarters group support function have developed. When these goals have been implemented, there will be a significant improvement in the efficiency and productivity of the whole organization.” “Our purpose statement states that Davis & Shirtliff is about: ‘Improving people’s lives by providing water and energy solutions across Africa,” says Mr. Gatende. “What I love about this statement is that it succinctly captures what we are passionate about ‘improving lives’ - and it is also aspirational as it targets all of Africa. Our key values remain integrity, quality, and ‘altiora peto’, which is Latin for continuous improvement.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 27
INTERVIEW: ANSA MCAL GROUP OF COMPANIES
28 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
FAMILY
BUSINESS, SUSTAINABLE
VALUES Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Anthony N. Sabga III, Chief Executive Officer of ANSA McAL Group of Companies and Chairman of the Group’s Beverage Sector, about recycling and reusing materials, supporting local excellence, and creating value for future generations. By Liam Pritchett ANSA McAL Group of Companies is an amalgamation of three longstanding companies in Trinidad and Tobago – the ANSA Group, Alstons and Mc Enearney. ANSA McAL Group is one of the Caribbean’s largest conglomerates, comprising of seventy-three companies distributed across eight Caribbean territories. The Group has six thousand employees who operate in diverse sectors, from beverages to manufacturing, finance, construction, real estate, distribution, automotive, media, retail, and services. “The ANSA McAL Group was founded by my grandfather, the late Dr. Anthony Sabga,” explains Anthony N. Sabga III, Group Chief Executive Officer. “We are one of the most stable and progressive companies in the region, representing many world-renowned brands, including some of our own home-grown successes. We have a long history and have stood
the test of time. Our vision is underpinned by principles of value creation for shareholders, business partners, employees, customers, consumers, and looking after the environment in which we operate.” SUSTAINABLE BREWING One of the major sectors within the ANSA McAL Group is the Beverage Sector, which owns and operates breweries in Trinidad, ANTHONY N. SABGA III
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 29
INTERVIEW: ANSA MCAL GROUP OF COMPANIES
THE EARLY DAYS – ALSTONS OFFICE BUILDING IN 1881
Grenada, St Kitts, and Cape Canaveral, Florida. The breweries produce a wide range of alcoholic, low and non-alcoholic beverages, including Carib Beer, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s best-known products, widely available across the Caribbean as well as in the export market in North America and Europe. “Our beverage sector is the leading independent brewer in the Caribbean,” explains Mr. Sabga. “We have a global footprint, with a vision to be a strong challenger to other major brands. Carib exists to unleash Caribbean fun into everyday life, and our beverage business mantra plays off that while remaining ethically, socially, and environmentally responsible. With that is a strong history of market leadership and innovation, and the Group takes pride in its pioneering status. For
THE LATE DR. ANTHONY N. SABGA
30 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
example, we have the first – and only – glass and plastic crate ‘return and recycle’ business model in the Caribbean. This is something that we are very proud of.” “What this means is all the glass and all of the plastic that we put into the market is actually reused, and when it can’t be reused, it is recycled in our home-grown facilities and plants,” says Mr. Sabga. “By reusing bottles and crates, we reduce the consumption of raw material and the energy used to produce them. So the end result is a significantly reduced carbon footprint. This has an economic benefit, in addition to the environmentally positive impact.” WASTE NOT, WANT NOT Carib Brewery’s sister company, Carib Glassworks Ltd, is the largest glass bottle producer and recycler in the Caribbean, producing bottles not only for Carib Brewery but also for other regional and international customers. “We also sell glass packaging products to the food manufacturing sector,” says Mr. Sabga. “You name it, anything that is manufactured in glass packaging in the Caribbean comes from us. And because glass is infinitely recyclable, we collect as much of that glass as we possibly can to put it back through the recycling process.” “We also have focused efforts on encouraging consumers to return used bottles,” says Mr. Sabga. “We have a ‘Save the Earth’ campaign which educates people about the benefits of redeeming empty bottles for a refund.
UNLEASHING CARIBBEAN FUN
THE CRATE RECYCLING PROCESS
WE HAVE THE FIRST - AND ONLY- GLASS AND PLASTIC CRATE ‘RETURN AND RECYCLE’ BUSINESS MODEL IN THE CARIBBEAN. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE VERY PROUD OF.”
Around Trinidad, as well as some of the other Caribbean countries, we have hundreds of recycling bins that collect all this glass to bring it back in. The glass is then crushed and reused. Crushed glass is called cullet, and we aim to collect over 2,500 metric tonnes of cullet in 2020.”
Another ANSA McAL-owned company, ANSA Polymer, manufactures plastic crates, film, and other plastic products. “The plastic production is also part of that recycling model,” says Mr. Sabga. “We have a sorting machine that sorts crates and puts them through the sanitization process. And
once again, if the crate is not suitable to be refilled, it is sent to the manufacturing plant to be reground and recycled. This reduces both costs and plastic pollution, and our ultimate objective is to have a fleet of crates in circulation made from 100 percent recycled materials.” “Brewing also produces quite a bit of spent grain,” adds Mr. Sabga. “If not disposed of properly, spent grain can impact waterways. Across all our breweries, we sell or give away this spent grain to farmers as a low-cost additive to supplement animal feed. This spent grain has a high protein content, so it can reduce feed purchases by somewhere in excess of 30 percent. A couple of years ago, we also entered a partnership with a non-profit organization SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 31
INTERVIEW: ANSA MCAL GROUP OF COMPANIES
“WE HAVE A ‘SAVE THE EARTH’ CAMPAIGN WHICH EDUCATES PEOPLE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF REDEEMING EMPTY BOTTLES FOR A REFUND.”
here in Trinidad, where they really wanted to rehabilitate a local quarry. We provided about 100 tons of spent grain and used it as organic material to help facilitate reforestation. That was something that we were very proud of.” CSR AND THE COMMUNITY At 140 years old, ANSA McAL operates in almost every Caribbean region, and the Group has a longstanding commitment to addressing social needs of communities through the ANSA McAL Foundation. “The Caribbean is a susceptible region given the climatic and economic conditions, so we really take pride in our very diverse CSR activity,” says Mr. Sabga. “We engage in it all, from environmental and beach clean-ups to our signature Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence. This awards program has been running 32 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
since 2005 and seeks to identify exemplary people who are involved in activities in the region in order to highlight and support them with an endowment that helps them go further with their activities.” Today, the ANSA McAL Foundation has an asset base of more than US$2 million, thanks largely to contributions from ANSA
QUARRY BEFORE SPENT GRAIN
McAL Group. “The Foundation is now self-financing, and able to undertake in perpetuity the significant commitment of the Awards for Excellence program,” explains Mr. Sabga. “Our Laureates come from as far north as Jamaica and as far south as Guyana, and they have worked in every area of regional endeavour, from genetics to computer science, legal and environmental activism, filmmaking and the arts, as well as medicine. We have awarded persons in literacy, environmental conservation, and poverty reduction. All these people have made and continue to make an invaluable and immeasurable contribution to every area of Caribbean life.”
AERIAL VIEW OF REHABILITATED QUARRY USING SPENT GRAIN (OVERHEAD DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL BARCANT OF IAMOVEMENT)
RECYCLING OF GLASS AT CARIB GLASSWORKS LIMITED
ANSA McAL also provides substantial financial support to communities following natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. “In 2017, many of our Caribbean neighbours were ravaged by hurricanes and as part of the relief efforts we donated 100 percent of profits generated from an organized, star-studded, charity cricket event,” says Mr. Sabga. “We really have a keen dedication to CSR, and we stand substantially behind that. We also have quite a discipline around reinvesting into the communities in which we operate, and we take that seriously.” EMISSIONS AND RENEWABLES Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is an inevitable by-product of the beverage brewing process, but it is also a major raw ingredient. “There’s an obvious synergy if a system of CO2 recovery and reuse is implemented,” says Mr. Sabga. “The recovery of CO2 from our fermenters and beer vessels is a significant opportunity to reduce how much CO2 we purchase and how much we are releasing into the atmosphere. It is both an environmental and financial consideration. We have already put this in place at our Trinidad and St Kitts breweries, and we have a goal for
PRESENTATION OF AWARDS TO THE 2019 LAUREATES AT THE ANTHONY N. SABGA CARIBBEAN AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE
GLASS RECYCLING BIN LOCATED IN TOBAGO
all of our Caribbean breweries to maximize CO2 recovery by the year 2022, and to be self-sufficient in CO2 by 2025.” “Water and energy conservation are also important for us,” says Mr. Sabga. “We are consciously and critically trying to raise the bar on the reduction of water, electricity, fuel, and CO2 usage. The model includes proper performance indicator management and oversight, which we closely monitor for performance against targets. We continually undertake root-cause analysis on variances and revising targets accordingly, as well as implementing metering, measurement, and analysis of usage. The Group does this at our four breweries as well as fifteen manufacturing facilities in the Caribbean, producing paint, blocks, plastics, glass, and various other products.” SUSTAINABLE FUTURE “The future of sustainable alternatives in our brewing process is high on the agenda for all our Carib Breweries,” says Mr. Sabga. “It is also a growing agenda for all of our other manufacturing facilities. By 2024, we expect to supplement most of our electricity needs with the use of solar energy, and to reduce our emissions by over 50 percent.
CARIB GLASSWORKS EMPLOYEE ASSISTING IN INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
Many of the raw materials we currently use are imported, so we also have an objective to reduce this dependency by partial and/ or total local and regional substitution. For example, using raw materials like cassava to supplement imported corn syrup. This will help create a positive agricultural impact on local farming, create additional employment, and lower our carbon footprint” “Recently, we were invited to contribute a submission on Sustainability in Family Business for the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland,” says Mr. Sabga. “I was profoundly impressed by the sustainability that is taking place on a worldwide level, as well as how many family-controlled businesses, much like ours, were actually involved in this and how advanced they were. Families don’t just exist to create and generate profit and return; families are looking to pass something on in a meaningful way to future generations.” “As we work to further develop our business, I am attempting to drive a higher priority and a greater focus on the embedding of sustainability in our business strategy and planning,” says Mr. Sabga. “This is an interesting new area for us and a steep learning curve, but we will achieve this through the development and implementation of a group-wide sustainability framework, aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). In the first instance, this will cover 2020-2023. We will continue to reduce operating costs through materials, energy, and waste reduction, and continue identifying and reducing previously unseen risks in the global supply chain. Our goal is to promote a profitable business for our shareholders that generates value for our customers, and continues to promote regional, national, and international sustainable development.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 33
FOREWORD: CARIBBEAN ELECTRIC UTILITY SERVICES CORPORATION
CARIBBEAN ENERGY A foreword by Dr. Cletus Bertin, Executive Director of the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC).
The Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) is the regional association of electric energy solution providers in the Caribbean. In preparation for our 30th anniversary in 2019, we undertook a significant exercise for the strategic repositioning of CARILEC to broaden our scope and focus. One of the most significant aspects of the
34 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
strategic review was the establishment of a membership category for Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which in effect heralded the transition from an: “Association of Electric Utilities” to an “Association of Electric Energy Solution Providers”. Today, we have 33 utility members, 7 IPP members, and over 70 associate and
affiliate members operating in the region. In this regard, one of the events leading up to our Annual General Meeting scheduled for September 23rd, will be the convening of the first ever caucus of IPP members, for election of a Director to represent this new category of members on the CARILEC Board of Directors, along with Directors elected by the Utility and Associate members caucuses. We also reformulated our value statement and included “collaboration” as our preeminent value, with “innovation and agility” and “environmental responsibility” now also part of our value statement. This repositioning, along with the completion of an indepth organizational review and re-structuring, and the upgrading of the technological and telecommunications infrastructure at the Secretariat, have provided renewed impetus to engage with partners who are part of the
energy transition in the Caribbean, and to undertake collaborative initiatives in a more focused and effective manner. DISASTER RESPONSE Not long after the establishment of CARILEC, our membership developed a program called the CARILEC Disaster Assistance Program (CDAP). 27 of our utility members are subscribers to this program, whereby they contribute an annual amount into a fund which is used to support expenses associated with the deployment of line-workers and engineers who provide assistance to an affected member utility in a post-disaster context. So far, there have been over 20 deployments since the beginning of the program, most recently with Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. In light of the outbreak of COVID-19 and the hurricane season, CARILEC has been collaborating with other regional associations and partners in adopting a multi-sectoral approach to a multi-hazard environment, including the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO), the Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CAWASA), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). We have had high-level symposiums with these industry partners developing protocols for disaster response and restoration in light of COVID-19, which will keep our front-line workers safe and operating efficiently if they are required to respond in a post-disaster restoration situation.
(WIRE), and others. This platform is a knowledge-sharing community of practice for people who share an interest in the promotion and advancement of renewable energy in the Caribbean region. CAREC has grown beyond all expectations. We now have over 1300 individual members representing 40 utilities in the region and beyond. Across our membership, we’ve seen some innovative solutions to transitioning and adopting renewable energy initiatives. As a regional association, we’re encouraging our members to revisit their business models. We’re also taking the lead on collaboration with the public sector agencies, having regular round tables and discussions with regulators to discuss issues relating to the legal and legislative frameworks that would facilitate the transitioning of the energy sector in the region. As we’ve had to cancel all our face-toface events this year, CARILEC members have seen a greatly enhanced offering of virtual capacity building and networking opportunities rolled-out by the CARILEC Secretariat over the last few months, as we seek to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on networking, business development, and knowledge-sharing. We all know the only thing that’s constant is change, so we’re very mindful that we continuously have to be innovative, agile, and able to evolve to meet, and surpass, the changing expectations of the market and our members, in order to be relevant and to add value to their operations, and thereby facilitate the development of world class sustainable electric energy solutions for all peoples of the Caribbean Region. c Visit the CARILEC website to learn more about the organization and their virtual offerings: https://www.carilec.org/
CHANGING FACE OF ENERGY Another flagship program we’re very proud of is the CARILEC Renewable Energy Community (CAREC), which was established with the support of many international partners, including the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Development Program’s Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Clinton Foundation, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Women in Renewable Energy SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 35
INTERVIEW: ANTIGUA PUBLIC UTILITIES AUTHORITY
36 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
HARNESSING THE ELEMENTS Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Ian Lewis, Water Business Unit Manager at Antigua Public Utilities Authority, about non-revenue water reduction, electricity savings, and the future of water storage in Antigua and Barbuda. By Marcus Bonnano Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) is the statutory agency in Antigua and Barbuda responsible for providing residents with water, electricity, and telecommunications. APUA’s Water Business Unit, which dates back to APUA’s founding in the early 1970s, is responsible for providing potable water to residents. “Antigua has always been a water-scarce country because of its location and topography,” explains Ian Lewis, Water Business Unit Manager at APUA. “We only average about 44 inches of rain per year. For the last ten years, Antigua has only experienced three years where we have had above-average rainfall; for the remaining seven years, we have been below average. For the year ending April 2020, the rainfall Antigua received was the worst rainfall for the last 67 years, and we are presently in a drought situation again.”
TIGHT SHIP Antigua and Barbuda relies on three different types of water sources: Groundwater, such as water from wells; surface water, such as water from reservoirs; and desalinated seawater. APUA processes approximately seven million gallons of water daily in a 1:3:6 ratio – one part groundwater to three parts surface water to six parts desalinated seawater. The dominance in the mix of desalinated water comes at a hefty price, though: Desalination is one of the most expensive ways of producing potable water, requiring a substantial input of electricity – itself prohibitively costly for island countries like Antigua and Barbuda, which import fuel for electricity generation. “At APUA Water Business Unit, we have a non-revenue water figure of about 40% to 45%,” says Mr. Lewis. “Because our water is expensive, we have a vested interest in trying
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 37
INTERVIEW: ANTIGUA PUBLIC UTILITIES AUTHORITY
Delivering innovative water treatment technologies and superior logistics services to the Caribbean and Latin America regions Providing each customer with a reliable all-in-one source for quality system components direct from the manufacturer.
Call: +1 (310) 283-7476 | www.source-h2o.com to reduce that cost. We’re doing this in two ways. Firstly, water is still pumped through a lot of old metal lines that were installed 50 or 60 years ago. APUA has embarked on a project to change at least ten miles of that piping, beginning with the area where we see high frequencies of leaks. Although global events this year have delayed the project, we still expect to start it very soon.” “Secondly, our other approach to reducing non-revenue water is in billing,” says Mr. Lewis. “We’re changing over from mechanical meters to ‘smart’ meters. The older me-
chanical meters become inaccurate after just a few years, whereas newer meters are more accurate for longer, meaning we can bill for the right amount of water used. We have about 25,000 clients and will roll out 8,000 meters each year for the next three years. Early trials indicate there will be an increase of between 125% and 200% in billing. Once the entire population has smart meters, we expect to see an increase in collection of about 220%. That will bring our non-revenue water within the range of the standard laid out by the World Bank and IMF.”
Water Treatment Products, Services, and Improvement
• Equipment: Ultra-Filtration, Reverse Osmosis • Chemicals: Potable, UF, RO, Wastewater • Bacteria: WW H2S Odor, FOG, TSS, BOD • Sequestering: Iron, Manganese • Filters: RO Cartridges, Carbon, Calcite, Fe and H2S Removal
Caribbean-Wide Inventory and Service Water Tech Sales and Consulting, Inc.
Tel: (787) 601-6699
admin@watertechgroup.com | www.watertechgroup.com
38 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
FRESH SOURCES In order to further improve costs – and reduce electricity consumption – APUA is also looking at ways of expanding collection from groundwater and surface water sources. “We have engaged a group of engineers from Cuba who are studying our groundwater system with an aim to expand the amount we currently receive,” Mr. Lewis says. “Groundwater is the cheapest source and we get about 500,000 to 1,000,000 gallons from it per day, but we are keen to find out how much more we have in groundwater
“WE HAVE REDUCED THE COST OF PRODUCING 1000 GALLONS OF POTABLE WATER FROM 18 KILOWATTS (KW) TO ABOUT 14KW.”
resources. We’re also looking at increasing the size of our existing surface water reservoirs while simultaneously working to create new ones. Reservoirs are essential, because Antigua is a flat country, so rainfall otherwise runs right back into the sea. Both groundwater and surface water are much cheaper than desalination so ultimately we’d prefer to use those first and desalination only to augment our total needs.” CLEAN ELECTRICITY As the sister organization to APUA’s Electricity Business Unit, the Water Business Unit is conscious of the expense of electricity pro-
duction in Antigua and Barbuda. That’s why the Water Business Unit is also investing in reducing their electricity requirements. “The desalination process uses about five times as much power as groundwater production,” says Mr. Lewis. “As long as we still need to use desalination, we’re investing in more energy-efficient equipment, as well as an entire plant with greater energy efficiency. We have reduced the cost of producing 1000 gallons of potable water from 18 kilowatts (kW) to about 14kW.” Even with these significant electricity reductions, APUA continued looking for ways to reduce their reliance on costly fossil
fuel-based electricity generation. “We realized these investments still wouldn’t be enough, because of the high cost of fossil fuels,” says Mr. Lewis. “As a result, in partnership with the Environment Division, we started looking at solar panels. Electricity Business Unit installed 10MW of solar power. The total generation capacity figure of 100MW may not be accurate however, for context, the peak electricity demand on island is approximately 58MW and 10MW of that figure can be attributed to solar power.The grid also buys excess solar power from privately-installed arrays in homes and businesses.” SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 39
INTERVIEW: ANTIGUA PUBLIC UTILITIES AUTHORITY
“TOGETHER, THESE STEPS WILL INCREASE OUR PRODUCTION CAPACITY ENOUGH TO MEET OUR CUSTOMERS’ HIGH DEMAND.” “Going one step further, the Environment Division is now looking at setting up wind turbines specifically to assist the Water Business Unit’s ability to return to production after a hurricane has passed,” says Mr. Lewis. “Once a hurricane has passed, there is normally a lot of damage to electricity poles and lines. Sometimes it takes days or weeks to get these systems back up and running. So, the Environment Division thought that if we have wind turbines connected to major plants, the plants could be back online within 12 to 24 hours. That means the population can have water again in no more than a day.” EXPANDING CAPACITY APUA’s Water Business Unit has an indispensable role going forward ensuring a growing Antigua and Barbuda continues to be sup-
40 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
plied with potable water. “The way we will achieve this, we will cut down on waste while also improving and increasing revenue,” says Mr. Lewis. “This year there are plans for two new desalination plans that will add 1 million gallons to the daily production capacity. We’re also refurbishing two plants that will increase capacity by another 1 million gallons. In 2021, APUA will build a brand-new facility capable of 3 million gallons per day of production. Together, these steps will increase our production capacity enough to meet our customers’ high demand.” “We’re also looking at increasing our storage in terms of building more storage tanks,” says Mr. Lewis. “Because of our small size, one of the problems we have, when taking a plant out for maintenance, is that the areas the plant distributes water to loses access to running water completely. Better storage facilities will reduce and prevent this. This year we plan to install another 4 million to 5 million gallons of storage. That would put us be in a better position for maintenance procedures, enabling our customers to continue receiving water during these periods. With all of these factors combined, over the next three years, the APUA Water Business Unit will be in a much better position to both make our customers happy and bring in the financial recompense that we require.” c
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 41
INTERVIEW: WILLIAMS SOLAR
NEW ENERGY LANDSCAPE FOR
BARBADOS By Alice Rycroft
42 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Gleeson Roach, Operations Manager at Williams Solar, about new feed-in-tariff rates, solar farms, and developing renewables expertise in the next generation. Williams Solar is a Barbadian solar EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contractor of photovoltaic systems for commercial, and residential customers. Established in 2008, Williams Solar is a subsidiary of Williams Industries Inc., and was initially founded to provide renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions. Today, Williams Solar has completed over 200 projects for customers across Barbados, as well as clients in neighbouring Caribbean islands, totaling over 11MWp of generation across the region. When Sustainable Business Magazine last spoke to Williams Solar, in early 2019, they were planning for significant growth,
as customers in Barbados, in line with the government’s National Energy Policy which intends to drive the island nation towards 100% renewable energy by 2030, began recognizing solar as a reliable, practical investment. (See Sustainable Business Magazine 03/19 for the full feature.) Today, those seeds have borne fruit. “The past year has seen improved productivity due to increasing demand for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems,” says Gleeson Roach, Operations Manager at Williams Solar. “As a result of the introduction of the new feed-in-tariff (FIT) rates for renewable energy projects up to 1MW by the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) on 24th September 2019, which locked in those rates under license for 20 years, this has created a level of assurance with potential investors.” NEW FRONTIERS This increased certainty for investors has led to a slate of new projects. “Ground-mounted solar PV projects are growing in popularity,” says Mr. Roach. “We are seeing land which has not been utilized for several years now having the potential of generating cleaner electricity and at the same time, if it is an agricultural lot, it would still be used for agriculture. We have recently completed a similar project which is estimated to generate over 750,000 kWh per year. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 43
INTERVIEW: WILLIAMS SOLAR
COMMITTED TO YOUR SUCCESS
PROUD SUPPLIER OF WILLIAMS SOLAR Visit us online at terragensolar.ca Visit us or online at terragensolar.ca call 705-435-7373
Construction the right way
The PowerStore is a Tier 1 authorized distributor for many of the world’s leading solar and storage products. We offer excellent pricing, large inventory levels and fully NABCEP trained internal team complimented with direct support from manufacturers where necessary. High-quality products have been at the heart of our company’s vision since we started. Our customers know that what we sell is built to last. All products go through testing and are signed off by our technical team before they reach our warehouse. This gives us the peace of mind knowing that we are supplying products that we would use ourselves.
sales@thepowerstore.com stewart@thepowerstore.com
thepowerstore.com
services E: info.proservices246@gmail.com T: 001 246-231-3602 Jackson, St. Michael, Bridgetown, Barbados
Over 15 years construction experience
“THESE PROJECTS ARE STILL IN THE INFANCY STAGES, BUT THEY HAVE A POTENTIAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THE 100% RENEWABLE BY 2030 GOAL.”
44 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
• Construction • Construction Management • Project Management • Renovations & Extensions • Maintenance • Surveying • Drafting & Design
We also added another over 1MW in new projects for our customers and within the Williams Industries Inc. group of companies.” says Mr. Roach. LOCALLY-FINANCED SOLAR “The new FIT rates, which fixes those rates for the next 20 years, seems to have given people some assurance, and we’re seeing more interest in photovoltaic systems,” says Mr. Roach. “Companies such as ourselves are on board with the national plan to become 100% renewable by 2030, and we’re doing all we can to see that goal achieved. On a national level, Barbados may be looking at something in the region of 625 MW of projected renewable energy development. We’re seeing the solar PV industry change in Barbados from just rooftop PV systems to include ground-mounted PV systems, utilizing unused land.” The broader Williams Industries group is working to facilitate a landscape where this large-scale transformation is possible. “One of the companies in our group, Williams Caribbean Capital, has raised international green bonds for the purpose of developing renewable energy projects,” says Mr. Roach. “Through that mechanism, people are able
to invest in these green bonds. Those bonds are 100% locally financed, with investors here in Barbados.” “We’re working closely with local entities to streamline all of our projects and make sure they come online in a reasonable timeframe,” says Mr. Roach. “These projects are at various stages in the process and have the potential to make a significant contribute towards the 100% renewable by 2030 goal.” RENEWABLE FUTURE Williams Solar is also working with partners to train the next generation of solar experts. “We recently did a project with Erdiston Teachers’ Training College, where they have an aquaponics system which is now fully powered by photovoltaics,” says Mr. Roach. “Today, this is a place where both staff and students can go to see the technology first hand and understand how
it provides a green solution. We’ve also been part of developing educational programs specifically for photovoltaics, working withacademic institutions, whohave been providing photovoltaics educational programs to students for the last two or three years. Along with other partners from the industry, we have contributed technical input and helped with the structuring of these programs and the evaluation of graduates, and we see this as a continuing role going forward. There’s an opportunity, as one of the larger companies in the industry, where we can offer services to educational institutions to help build the solar workforce of the future.” “We will be continuing our relationships working with entities such as the Barbados Renewable Energy Association (BREA), offering our input as we work towards this goal, and continuing to educate the general public on the importance of
renewable energy and the technology,” says Mr. Roach. As we successfully execute more projects, we see that as a demonstration of our capabilityand helping to build confidence with the Barbadian public that we are fully capable of meeting this target of 100% renewable.” c For more information on Williams Solar and their latest projects, visit: https://williamssolar.com/
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 45
INTERVIEW: BARBADOS NATIONAL OIL COMPANY LIMITED
46 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
CHANGING THE GAME Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Richard Goddard, Renewable Energy Officer at Barbados National Oil Company Limited, about renewable generation targets, the community impact of clean, reliable energy, and game-changing new technologies. By Liam Pritchett
“BY 2030, BARBADOS SEEKS TO HAVE ALL OF ITS ELECTRICITY GENERATED USING RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES”
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 47
INTERVIEW: BARBADOS NATIONAL OIL COMPANY LIMITED
D.HILL
SHIPPING SERVICES LIMITED
Area of Operations: • Trinidad • Jamaica • St Lucia • Guyana • Antigua
In 2018, when Sustainable Business Magazine last spoke to Barbados National Oil Company Limited (BNOCL), the company was working on its electricity generation, and transitioning away from petroleum and gas in favor of solar, wind, and biogas options (see Sustainable Business Magazine issue 04/18 for the full feature). BNOCL was also installing solar panels in local schools, working in the community, and trying to increase Barbadians access to sustainable, reliable energy in general. “By 2030, Barbados seeks to have all of its electricity generated using renewable energy sources,” explains Richard Goddard,
48 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
TEL: + (868) 658 3700/2216/2906 FAX : + (868) 658 3706 E-MAIL: admin@dhillshipping.com / ops@dhillshipping.com For further information please visit www.dhillshipping.com
OUR SERVICES; • Port Agency • Marine Logistics • Processing Crew • Custom Brokerage
Renewable Energy Officer at BNOCL. “It also seeks to be a carbon neutral country by the same date. There is a view that even our transport sector should also be powered by renewable energy, but, out of necessity, that may fall into a blend of renewables and carbon neutrality. As the national oil company, we see ourselves as fundamentally carrying that torch and leading that charge to be 100 percent renewable by 2030.” SUN, SOIL, AND WIND “We have a 4.1MW plant that we are working on at our current facility,” says Mr. Goddard. “We have also developed a
• • • •
Bunkering Transport Drydocking STS Oil Products
residential program where we are hoping to leverage the savings that we get from the larger projects to provide lower-cost PV and PV plus storage solutions for the Barbadian public. We’ve started this project already with a pilot program dealing with our staff. Later on in 2020 we’re going to expand that to our sister agencies, and then to the general public.” “We’re still interested in bio-gas, and we have a plan to install a biogas electricity plant,” says Mr. Goddard. “Hopefully this will be in the third or fourth quarter of 2020. We’re going to spend the next months locking down the details and any logistics with a view to commissioning a plant by the end of 2020. That plant will hopefully produce something north of 200KW. So if we can get that pilot started, and have it function effectively, then we hope to develop a scalable mode that can incrementally increase the power generated. We expect distributed locations of biogas electricity plants throughout the island. We have also recently conducted a pilot study on biofuels on the government’s fleet of vehicles”
“WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE WILL HAVE ONE OF THE BEST PRODUCTS ON THE MARKET”
BNOCL continue to invest in wind energy. “Last time we spoke, we were looking at three principal sites for our BNOCL wind projects,” explains Mr. Goddard. “We have now expanded our scope to doing a national wind study which would include three primary sites – the Saint George Valley, Saint John, and Lamberts, Saint Lucy, where there was previously a wind turbine in the 1980s – as well as the rest of the island. This is so we can have investment-grade data available to anyone interested in doing a project on the island. Now moving from the study to the actualisation is going to be very exciting, both to have the national wind study completed, and to actually see some wind turbines in place on the island. We’ve also done some other studies and looked at offshore opportunities as well. We anticipate we can probably get a minimum of 60MW, and an upper limit of probably 100MW of wind installed on-island using current technology.” COMMUNITY INVESTMENT In addition to their commercial projects, BNOCL regularly share renewable technologies at a smaller scale for use by local communities.
“We recently selected three community centre hardcourts to retrofit with LED floodlights,” says Mr. Goddard. “They will all be coupled with photovoltaic panels and storage. We’re also working with our Rural Development Commission to donate PV panels to two chosen homes. This will give them the option of coming off the grid, reducing their electricity bill, and even gathering some income. The system will be sized to slightly larger than their current bill, which means that everything that is generated over their current usage would create a net-positive situation. These are projects that we are aiming to complete before the end of this year.” Another new project is what BNOCL calls the Resilience Program. “For the Resilience Program, we’re designing smaller, 2kW solar systems for vulnerable members of the population,” says Mr. Goddard. “We’re going to work with the same ministry for community care so we can identify vulnerable populations and have the system installed at a nominal fee of around 50 dollars per month. This project will help them take part in the energy revolution, and build resilience to utility outages. This won’t start until later in
2020, as we don’t have all the components yet, but then we will roll it out. The previous arrangements that we had with Oistins and Pelican Village still continue, and we continuously build on what we have done before.” AFFORDABLE OPTIONS An emphasis on affordability, accessibility, and quality is present in all aspects of BNOCL’s work. “Currently, we sell natural gas through the National Petroleum Corporation,” explains Mr. Goddard. “Natural gas is the cheapest and most affordable option for homeowners. What we want is to have the average Barbadian say: ‘OK, I recognise that the same company that is providing the most affordable and reliable solution in natural gas is also the most reliable solution in solar and storage.’ And for them to try and transfer that confidence that they have in us already to the other services we can provide. We have already started doing energy audits and installations for our staff members, and they have been very happy.” BNOCL anticipates adoption of renewable technology at the local level to continue increasing. “We anticipate that SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 49
INTERVIEW: BARBADOS NATIONAL OIL COMPANY LIMITED
“IT’S A VERY EXCITING TIME, AND MOST PEOPLE SEE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A NEW BEGINNING. A CHANCE TO DO SOME THINGS DIFFERENTLY AND TO RAISE OUR GAME.”
we will have one of the best products on the market,” says Mr. Goddard. “We will compete aggressively to provide optimal solutions for the Barbadian public at the best cost. That means both affordability and giving the average Barbadian the opportunity to take part in what we call the renewable energy revolution. Having that communicated to the average person on the street can enable them to see how they can benefit from renewable energy – both uncoupling their pricing from fossil fuel costs and helping them to gain some resilience, in case of a catastrophic event.
50 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
The space that we are looking to occupy is very exciting, in particular the effect that we can have on the average Barbadian and their lifestyle.” DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY Today, BNOCL is in the midst of a major amalgamation and rebranding process. “Although the amalgamation has not yet occurred, the rebranding process is well under way,” explains Richard Goddard, Renewable Energy Officer at BNOCL. “We will be a full-on energy company, providing services in renewable energy and alternative energy. We anticipate that our rebranding will be completed some time later in 2020, and by the end of the year we will be a wholly newly branded company with a renewed focus on renewable and alternative energy technology.” There are also some exciting developments coming in the future, as BNOCL look into new, potentially game-changing renewable technologies. “We’re looking at the theoretical side of marine genera-
tion, as the cost of floating wind turbines is progressively coming down and the viability of wave energy solutions is increasing,” says Mr. Goddard. “Within the next two years, I anticipate we will definitely be further along in terms of installing and demonstrating the capability of wave turbines and marine electricity generation. We know that it’s going to be on the eastern, Atlantic side of the island. But the work that needs to be done is heavily related to the interconnection. So how and where we will put that landing point for any offshore systems needs to be locked down. With respect to wind, that may also be on the east but it could be on the western side of the island. Somewhere pretty far out, so that it wouldn’t impede any coral reefs. Exploring wind generation means that, when we are looking at five years, the whole island would have at least one year of investment-grade data at very key locations. It’s a very exciting time, and most people see it as an opportunity for a new beginning. A chance to do some things differently and to raise our game.” c
ADVERTISERS INDEX C Caribbean Packaging Industries
32
D D.Hill Shipping Services Limited
48
G GlobalwaterSolutions
26
P Pro Construction Services
S Source H2O
38
T TerraGen Solar The PowerStore Inc
44 44
W Water Tech Sales and Consulting
38
44
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 51
SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
SUSTAINING TOMORROW. TODAY
www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
52 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE