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The Eastern Caribbean island nation is seeking to procure 60 MW of battery energy storage systems in its first tender of its kind.
Barbados has begun its first procurement of battery energy storage systems in a bid to support growing interest in renewable energy investment on the island.
Last week, the islands government announced that the RFI for new battery storage capacity and the publication of competitive procurement documents would be launched on November 8.
The RFI precedes the launch of the competitive procurement process, which will seek 60 MW of battery energy storage systems.
Energy and Enterprise Minister Senator Lisa Cummins said the island was a "pioneer in this area" and had therefore had to undertake a great deal of development and innovation work.
“This is an open tender process. We expect local and international bidders to come forward,” Cummins said. He stressed the importance of transparency in designing and carrying out the procurement exercise and explained that the RFI will allow for feedback on what still needs to be considered before final documents are published.
The consultation period for comments and suggestions on the RFI will close on 28 November 2024. The tender is expected to take place in early 2025.
"As a government, we have committed to acquiring 150 MW by 2026, so the next stages of the tender will cover both distribution and transmission," said Senator Cummins.
The island currently has a 5 MW battery storage system installed on the Trents grid, St. Louis. A further 15 MW have already been approved by the Fair Trading Commission (FTC), through the Clean Energy Transition Rider. The Barbados Light and Power Company is the owner and operator of these projects.
“We have been very successful as an island with solar penetration. In fact, we are leading the way globally with 100 MW already on the grid, and to continue that momentum and build on past successes, batteries are needed to unlock that and provide firm capacity,” said Roger Blackman, Managing Director of Barbados Light and Power Company.
The Renewable Energy Global Adoption Programme (RELP), a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the deployment of renewable energy in developing countries, will oversee the bidding process.
In recent months, Senator Cummins has stated that RELP, with the full participation of the other members of the team, has conducted a full characterization study of the Barbados electricity grid. She noted that a new grid code had already been completed.
“The grid code was submitted in June this year and is now finalised and ready to be submitted to the Electricity Panel… of the Fair Trading Commission for finalisation. This is a painstaking year-long piece of work,” he said. |
