The grants will also help the country’s regulatory, financial and fiscal frameworks in order to achieve a sustainable energy matrix, and to encourage energy efficiency in public, commercial and residential buildings.
For Barbados, a $1 million grant by IDB will underwrite the development of a Sustainable Energy Framework that will contribute to achieve affordable and sustainable energy and minimize dependency on fossil fuels. It will enable the government to test energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions, study bioenergy and solar alternatives and develop regulatory and financial incentives to promote sustainable energy.
These are the first steps towards reducing the foreign oil dependency, increasing energy security and promoting sustainable energy in the energy matrix that the IDB has supported in each of these countries, Christiaan Gischler, the IDB project team leader said.
$1 million IDB grant will launch the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action Program which will finance the adoption of energy saving technologies in the region’s small, medium and large hotels, thereby helping them to reduce one of their largest operating costs. Studies have estimated that Caribbean hotels could lower their energy bills by up to 20% by investing in efficient lighting, air conditioning and related technologies.
This project will provide essential inputs for understanding the potential for reducing energy consumption and for assessing carbon emission reductions as a prelude to obtaining carbon credits, said Gischler. Since 90 percent of the energy matrix in the Caribbean is fossil fuel based, any energy saving translates directly into carbon emission reductions.”
This program will also partner with the United Nations Environmental Programme to help hotels phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances in chillers, air conditioners and refrigerators. The program will be initiated in Barbados, with the goal of replicating its methodology in other Caribbean countries.
