In the next 27 years, Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) will be completely generating electricity from renewable energy.
BL&P’s manager of communications and government relations Jackie Marshall-Clarke said the cost of electricity may be cheaper and Barbados would not have to be so reliant on fossil fuels or be concerned about the impact of fluctuating oil prices.
She told a hall full of students recently at the 2018 launch of the Science And Renewable Energy Exposition at St Mark’s Primary School in Blades Hill, St Philip, that this move would also benefit the environment.
“When fossil fuels become scarce or run out, the price of oil goes up and . . . it costs more for us to bring it into Barbados and the price of electricity goes up,” said Marshall-Clarke.
“So we have a 100/100 vision for the year 2045, which means 100 per cent renewable energy and 100 per cent electrification. If we could move to a point where cars and buses are moving off of electricity, generated by the sun, wind or waves, we would not need gas or oil.”
Marshall-Clarke added that this vision could not be executed by the island’s sole electric utility company, noting that partnering with the Ministry of Education to host the national renewable energy exposition was a necessary step in challenging the island’s youth to be more innovative.
“We need to get the young minds to help us with that transition . . . our young people could be the engineers of the future in the power plants, manufacturers of those solar panels, the installers of many of the renewable energy projects or the ministers making decisions on renewable energy.”
She encouraged all public and private schools to get involved in the science fair. Twelve primary and six secondary schools participated last year.
St Mark’s won the primary school’s category last year with a project entitled We Coming With Wind Force, which demonstrated how a vehicle could operate with wind energy. (SB)