BARBADOS’ SMALLEST supplier of solar water heating systems, Aqua Sol Components Ltd, is now majority owned by a relatively new Trinidadian company, Solaris Energy Limited.
The partnership which took effect legally on January 10 this year has resulted in the 30-year-old company’s rebranding as Solaris Global Energy Limited.
Solaris Energy Limited was set up last July by Trinidadian company Mora Oil Ventures specifically to address renewable energy.
This was confirmed last week by Solaris Energy Limited chief executive officer Allan Luke and Solaris Global Energy chief executive officer Vincent McClean.
Both CEOs said there was still a “substantial” Barbadian stake in the company.
McClean explained why Aqua Sol welcomed the investment.
“There were several large construction projects scheduled to come on stream during the year 2009, of which we were the designated supplier of solar water heaters.
“These large projects, consisting of many hundreds of homes and apartments, were shelved. This threw our entire plans for the year 2009 into disarray and resulted in a revenue shortfall of about 25 per cent at the end of the financial year.
“So when the Trinidadian investors came knocking, we were very receptive to them,” he said.
Luke noted that although renewable energy is not attractive in the twin-island republic due to low fuel costs and very long payback periods, it was felt that the fuel supply would not be sustained for long.
“We decided to bite the bullet early and seek partnerships in establishing business ventures in manufacturing renewable energy products.
“We looked at several arrangements globally but finally made a strategic decision to partner with a Caribbean company,” he said.
Having met with all three Barbadian companies, he said Aqua Sol was the only company that they felt aligned with their vision of sustainability.
