There is much promise for T&T’s push towards renewable energy, but to achieve its goals the country will need to get out of its own way.
This was one takeaway from a webinar hosted by the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), in collaboration with the Association of Professional Engineers of T&T (APETT), titled “Finding Solutions to Engineering Challenges”.
In session Three of the webinar “Sustainable Energy – Challenges Vs Rewards” Dr Indra Haraksingh, a professor of physics at the University of the West Indies, highlighted and praised specific parts of T&T’s roadmap for a green economy, where she pointed out that in some cases the transition would not just be ideal but ultimately required.
However, she questioned the decision to suggest offshore wind plants as T&T’s best option.
“The IDB collaborated with the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, and National Energy and they actually came up with the best option for T&T, which was offshore wind and there are reasons for that there’s large potential, but for me, my recommendation will still be solar and wind even on land. The thing about offshore is that the potential is very, very high. But working in a marine environment is very difficult and can be very expensive,” said Dr Haraksingh, who also agreed with Prime Minister’s assertion that the transition would be challenging.
“The second point that I want to make. The Prime Minister again (said), a review of the country’s power requirements has projected peak demand to increase from 1400 megawatts in 2022 to 1600 megawatts in 2032.
“During this period, the PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) have two of the country’s major independent power producers representing 40 per cent of the country’s installed generation capacity are due to expire. So he is saying we, therefore, have an opportunity to achieve much of our target of 30 per cent of power from renewables. It’s kind of riding on a sad thing, but okay, he is looking at that, but he is still saying that however, the transition to renewables is not without challenges, and we all very much are aware of that,” Dr Haraksingh said.
She like the Prime Minister did in his speech at the energy conference on Monday, noted that the cheap cost of electricity in T&T would serve as one of the hurdles to reducing emissions and the embrace of greener or renewable energy as she assessed the difficulties in changing the psyche of the public.
“One of the major problems we have in T&T because our electricity and so it’s so cheap is a lot of waste and a lot of inefficiencies in our operations. And energy efficiency is something that we need to learn about if we don’t know to change our mindset and change our habits in operations. You know, simple things like turning off the lights, turning off, air conditioning, and so on. Those are all leaning towards energy efficiency. They’re all energy efficiency measures,” said Dr Haraksingh.
The UWI lecturer and senior energy analyst at the Ministry of Energy & Energy Industries Craig Boodoo however agreed that the potential returns for this country as it goes through the process of energy transition could be immense, in the case of hydrogen production if all goes well, the country could find a new lane of significant revenue.
“If we can realise at least even 12 gigawatts of that potential (from wind plants), we can go into the green hydrogen into a very worldwide scale basically we could produce as much hydrogen as we are currently producing for natural gas right now,” said Boodoo.
However, Boodoo and Haraksingh both agreed that this country would have to utilise the fossil fuel market for the short to medium term.
“T&T, it has to be hybrid for quite a while. There are other parts of the world which may be moving towards 100 per cent. But it will still be hybrid. We can look at our neighbour in Barbados, for instance, and one or two other islands, they are moving towards 100 per cent clean energy, and electricity generation and they will probably achieve it there. Their needs are not as high as here in Trinidad because we are so industrialised,” said Dr Haraksingh.
“Definitely short term and medium term, fossil fuels will not be going anywhere. So it’s going to be a hybrid,” said Boodoo, who however said it was crucial to maximise the income generated from natural gas and ensure that it is properly invested.
“It’s very important for us to get fossil fuel out of the ground now, use it and reinvest into renewable energy and re-invest in the people so that we can, you know, continue to live fairly comfortable lives. Some people say they have it hard but we actually have fairly comfortable lives in Trinidad,” said Boodoo who explained that many other countries were not in a position to make use of these resources.
Boodoo said there were also opportunities for common folk to benefit, as through a UNDP arrangement, residents who install solar panel roofs could not only aid in the transition but get a return on their investment through payments from the UN. These payments, Boodoo said could potentially repay their costs incurred within five to eight years, while they would have a power source that is valid for 30 years while also helping with the transition.
Dr Haraksingh felt T&T was well-placed to achieve the goals identified in the National Development Strategy.
“This is why the outlook for development, coming from the Prime Minister, this is why the outlook the development of renewable energy is promising and attainable.
“We recognise that renewables cannot in the near to medium term replace oil and gas and I think that’s what we have been saying, but not that we are not going towards renewables, long term strategies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency are necessary to attain that carbon neutral neutrality that we are talking about. And low carbon technologies must be competitive in order to facilitate this transition. And I would say yes, we have good hope renewables and I would like to see people moving in that direction, and we are there to help,” said the UWI lecturer.
Managing director of Renewable Energy Supplies and Servies Co of T&T (Resscott) Graeme Jones also felt there were good signs for transition as he noted the cost of solar has reduced significantly in the past 10 years, while there had been significant breakthroughs and improvements in technologies regarding power storage which could increase energy efficiency.
He said it was simply up to the public and industrial sectors to make the change.