Rubis invests in green hydrogen power plant in Barbados

Rubis Energie, the parent company of Rubis Caribbean, has acquired 51% of the largest hydrogen power project in the Caribbean, Renewstable® Barbados (“RSB”), developed by HDF Energy. This transaction follows the strategic agreement signed between the two energy companies in June 2021, a release from Rubis states. HDF Energy is also in active discussions with the Barbados Sustainable Energy Co-operative Society to offer 30% of the project prior to construction.

RSB is a large grid-friendly energy power plant project that will supply clean, resilient, stable and competitive baseload electricity 24/7 to 16,000 homes. Located in St Philip, RSB will aid the island in achieving its 100% renewable energy mandate by 2030 without the intermittency concerns that typically limit the deployment of solar and wind power on island grids. Using only the sun as a primary source of electricity (50MW solar), RSB combines 128MWh of green hydrogen and battery storage to deliver a continuous output of power, day and night. The project is currently under Government regulatory review and approval.

Totally carbon-free, RSB has been designed to effectively replace certain aging, costly and polluting assets that currently burn Heavy Fuel Oil or Jet Fuel, with a similar level of reliability. Not impacted by any commodity market, RSB also eliminates the exposure to fuel price volatility throughout its 25-year operating life.

RSB is committed to promoting the dual use of solar energy and agriculture on the site. A large-scale sheep farming facility (1830 head) will be accommodated, with both direct sheep grazing and grass harvesting within the solar power plant and surrounding green areas. Sheep husbandry will be developed on the facilities in order to maintain dual use of the land, producing valuable lamb meat and skins locally, and generating direct and indirect local jobs while simultaneously saving and creating vital foreign exchange.

The release further states that during its two-year construction period RSB will create around 200 jobs, and support around 25 permanent local jobs during its operation. Both HDF Energy and Rubis have their regional head offices in Barbados and currently employ over 1,500 professionals across the entire region.

The US$100-plus million RSB project is a duplication of CEOG (en.ceog.fr), the first Renewstable® project in construction developed by HDF Energy located in French Guiana. It is being built by Siemens Energy and financed through a state-of-the-art project finance scheme.