On Friday, June 23, the Ministry of Energy and the Barbados Light & Power launched the US$24.6 million Public Sector Smart Energy Programme, which – among many aims designed to reduce electricity consumption and GHGs – will include the changing out of close to 30,000 street lights across the country.
The project, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Union, will also retrofit 13 Government buildings and increase Government electric vehicles form the current two (from a pilot project) to a total of eight.
Officials of the BL&P are expected to embark on a procurement process “very soon” to source the Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures.
During the launch, Senator Darcy Boyce, remarked that the Government is aiming for a 29 per cent per year reduction in electricity consumption through various methods of renewable energy use and energy efficiency.
Boyce said he would soon be going back to the IDB for more funding for a second programme he is hoping to sign off on by the end of this year, to effect greater energy efficiency.
Acknowledging that government is a significant user of electricity, Boyce said the street lamps account for a great portion of that usage.
“This project will save us a couple million dollars a year [up to] $3 million a year. It is a small amount in the context of Barbados but it is a start to save some money. When that is combined with the work to retrofit the 13 Government buildings with solar photovoltaic it begins to add,” he said.
