Funding remains major challenge in Caribbean transition to renewable energy – Bharrat

…says developing countries have political will but lack funds

While Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the Caribbean have the political will to transition to renewable energy, funding continues to be a major challenge. This was highlighted recently by Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.
Last week during the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo (GECSCE), Bharrat used part of his presentation to advocate for the region. His advocacy comes at a time when the world continues its efforts to fulfill commitments made at various forums like the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), where the developed world had agreed to make $300 billion available annually for poorer countries to transition to cleaner energy.
“CARICOM for example, needs billions of US dollars to fully transition away from fossil fuel. Is CARICOM in a position to do that? the answer is no. And if you ask any country… I was among the SIDS countries at a conference, and those small islands, they’re so willing to transition,” he said.

“The political will is there; they want to do it, but do they have the resources to do it? No, they don’t have the resources to do it. That is the bottom line. So countries with resources must be able to produce their natural resources, but in a responsible manner. And to use those resources to transition and facilitate their energy mix,” Bharrat explained.
Bharrat pointed out that in Guyana’s case, the country has been consistent in developing cleaner energy, strategies that are laid out in the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030. He noted that in addition to gas, wind and solar will feature prominently as sources of energy for Guyana. But he noted the importance of the world focusing on cutting demand for fossil fuel, rather than cutting production.
“If we decide, as a world, that we’re going to reduce capital for exploration and production of fossil fuel, while not at the same time investing as much as we should in renewable energy, we are going to face a major problem. And as a matter of fact, we will go backwards.”
“So, the idea should not be to cut production. The idea should be to cut demand. It is a more sensible approach to work on cutting demand, rather than cutting production. Because if we cut production while demand is there, it means that you’re putting people back to where they started. It means only a few will produce, while most cannot afford the energy.”
According to Bharrat, if on the other hand demand is cut while production continues, this will lead to a more natural reduction of production. And the Minister noted that in such a scenario, countries like Guyana with high environmental credentials, should be given preference.
“And once demand is there, Guyana as a country with such high environmental credentials and the quality of our crude, should have a seat at the table. That has been our simple position at any major conference around the world and that is our position here too,” he said.
The Government of Guyana is meanwhile targeting the addition of 100 megawatts (MW) of solar power to the grid this year. Only recently, it had been announced by Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips during the expo that as part of Guyana’s transition to renewable energy, a 450-kilowatt (kW) wind turbine farm will be developed at Leguan to meet the Essequibo River island’s growing power demand in a sustainable manner.
Work also continues on getting the 300-MW Gas to Energy (GtE) Project operational this year. When that project is completed, it is expected that it will cut electricity prices by 50 per cent and provide a cleaner energy option as a transitional fuel.