Energy cost to go down for Bequia residents

The Abu Dhabi Development Fund has approved a project that will make energy cheaper for the people of Bequia.

The US$10 million project was approved last Sunday and announced at the Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) 24th convention by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves while addressing persons at the Campden Park Secondary School.

The PM said the project was accepted by Minister of Health Luke Browne in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and that St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) was one of eight countries who will receive funding.

He noted that we were successful from among a group of 80 countries who also made applications for funding for certain renewable energy projects. The project is aiming to put a 2.5-megawatt plant with supporting battery storage on Bequia.

“It would be like its own micro grid, but it can go into the national grid,” Gonsalves said.

On Sunday, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) announced plans to provide $105 million of loan financing to support the development of eight renewable energy projects, including 42.5 MW of new solar generation capacity.

The projects were selected by the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) under the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility, which has loaned $350 million to such projects across seven funding cycles.

The online PV Magazine said the ADFD disburses overseas development loans provided by the government of the Emirate.

It noted that planned installations are to be built in Burkina Faso, Chad, Cuba, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, and SVG and will bring the number of projects funded by the IRENA/ADFD initiative to 32, representing about 200 MW of new renewable energy generation capacity.

The ADFD will allocate a $15 million loan for an 8 MW solar-wind hybrid power plant in Antigua and Barbuda and will lend $20 million for 8.5 MW of solar generation capacity backed by 2 MW of energy storage, on Isla de la Juventud, in Cuba.

In addition, the development lender will provide $15 million to support 10 MW of solar on the Caribbean island of St Lucia, for a project which includes battery storage and in SVG, the ADFD will lend $10 million for a 7 MW solar array.

In Africa, the sovereign body will provide $5.5 million in loans for a 3 MW solar project in Burkina Faso and $15 million to support a 6 MW facility in Chad.

In South Asia, the fund will lend $14 million for a waste-to-energy plant in the Maldives and $10 million for the installation of 20 biogas digesters in Nepal, to convert organic waste into energy.