BL&P says rentals to meet energy demand

The demand for electricity is growing at a time when there are insufficient batteries to store intermittent renewable energy produced by solar photovoltaic customers in particular.

Barbados Light & Power Company (BL& P) says this is why it is taking steps, via the rental of 11 megawatts (MW) of Aggreko temporary generation units, to meet the country’s short-term energy demands.

BL& P managing director Roger Blackman said the company was acting prudently “so we have put the lowest cost short-term solution in place, these rental generators, while the capacity that was expected from batteries is procured and brought on the grid”.

The utility company, which the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) has given permission to use the Fuel Clause Adjustment (FCA) to recover costs for the rental of the units, said it was “deeply concerned about the impact of any cost increase to our customers [and], in the history of the company, passing on cost to our customers is always a last resort”.

BL& P estimates there will be “a modest cost of $3 to the average customer for the allotted period of cost recovery”, which is 12 months.

Following the FTC’s October 29 decision, the company has been criticised by some intervenors, and members of the public, for seeking to recover the cost of the temporary generation.

“This decision was not taken because we failed to plan but, rather, we were proactive in putting well calculated measures in place,” BL& P said in a statement.

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