Excerpt from jamaica-gleaner.com
The Barbados government says it is considering having ocean energy technology operational on the island as part of the National Energy Policy target of 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
The Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship said it has conducted an ocean energy consultation from January 2020 to March this year, to explore the feasibility of pursuing alternative energy sources and to select the right mix for the country ahead of government’s 2030 target.
The consultants, ITPEnergised, supported by local and international experts in ocean energy, examined fixed offshore wind (OSW), floating offshore wind (FLOW) and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) projects around the island from a technical, environmental and logistical perspective.
“They also investigated the legal framework, local supply chain, connectivity to the electricity grid, tourism impact and conducted various financial and map analyses to determine practicality of these technologies in Barbados,” according to a statement issued by the ministry.
It said that the team also looked at wave energy, but concluded that this option was not suitable for Barbados, due to the level of unreadiness for this technology on a commercial scale.
“As part of the consultants’ preparatory work, they identified 16 possible ocean energy project scenarios. Of that number, six were selected and ranked in order of priority. In the end, the fixed and floating offshore wind turbine systems located off the north of the island were the preferred options.”
