BL&P aiming for greater customer control
Wed, 10/19/2016 - 12:00am
THE Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) is aiming to give customers greater control over their energy use.
So says Managing Director, Roger Blackman, as he reviewed some of the initiatives coming on stream during the opening ceremony of a Renewable Energy Symposium hosted by the BL&P in collaboration with the Media Resource Department and the Ministry of Education.
Blackman reminded the secondary and tertiary students in attendance that the BL&P is currently investing in grid modernisation, otherwise known as a Smart Grid.
“Projects such as the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project, which starts this year and involves the installation of 130 000 meters over the next three years, are integral to this goal and will provide two-way communication between us the utility and our customers.
It will allow us to introduce new energy services to our customers and eventually will mean no more interim and estimated bills.” He said it will also facilitate higher levels of distributed renewable energy systems.
The managing director also expressed excitement about the soon to be launched Demand Side Management pilot programmes for customers. “These pilots, which will begin within the next couple months, would be done in partnership with two of our schools and one of our hotels. It is hoped this initiative will help customers identify concrete ways to use energy more efficiently.”
He stressed that the BL&P’s vision is for a transition to 100 per cent renewable energy and 100 per cent electrification over the next 25-30 years.
As it relates to electrification, he explained that electricity by itself represents approximately 40 per cent of the overall energy demand on the island.
“The other 60 per cent of energy demand is accounted for in the transportation, commercial and industrial sectors through the use of gasoline, diesel and natural gas, LPG.
“So as a country and as an economy if we intend to get to 100 (per cent) clean energy or greening the economy, it means tackling more than just electricity. It means tackling those sectors that don’t currently rely on electricity, converting them over time to electricity and to clean electricity, so that you can get to 100 per cent clean energy economy.”