Barbados, a Small Island Developing State with universal access to modern energy services,has been transitioning towards a Green Economy with 50% of the island’s energy consumption being provided by renewable energy. The country also aims at reducing its electricity consumption by 22% by 2020.

Barbados is one of the world’s leaders in the use of solar water heaters by having one of the highest penetration rates (34%) on a per capita basis. The island’s solar industry has been indeed designated by the United Nations Environmental Programme as a Green Economy success story and the country was selected to host the World Environment Day in 2014.

To achieve these targets, a diversified energy mix of projects has been planned, in the framework of the National Sustainable Energy Policy, for the conversion of solar, wind, biomass, municipal waste and seawater . A new regulatory regime has also been recently established to facilitate the sale of electricity to the grid from renewable energy. To date 7% of the local utility’s peak capacityhas being provided by intermittent renewable energy.Based on a study of the grid, sanctioned by the local utility and the pipeline of projects, an estimated 14% increase is expected to be reached by the end of the year and it will be over 50% by 2020 .

Energy efficiency is being encouraged with the distribution of free LED lights to householders, the retrofitting of Government-owned buildings with energy efficiency technologies, the planned replacement by 2019 of all energy inefficient streetlights with LED lights and increased use of LED lighting and energy efficient air conditioning in the business sector.

Government of Barbados