Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath has criticised the planning of a major solar power project under the previous administration, saying it has become a financial burden on T&TEC, rather than a benefit to the national grid.
Speaking to reporters in Penal on Monday evening, he said while Government supports renewable energy, poor integration planning caused the solar project to cost more to connect to the grid than the power was worth.
“The former administration engaged in a project with Shell and BP, where they created this solar farm in Central Trinidad, in my constituency, incidentally, and it is costing T&TEC more to add the power from those solar farms onto the grid. And when they created those solar farms, they did not look to see where they could have passed it onto in terms of the use of the additional power for a financial return, in terms of selling the additional power for a financial return to the company.”
Minister Padarath warned that without proper planning, renewable energy projects risk becoming expensive liabilities rather than sustainable solutions.
“So you must be a bit more proactive. a little bit more futuristic, and that was one of the main failures that we saw in the Public Utilities sector in terms of bringing on these solar farms with the partnership of BP and Shell, but not looking beyond just a project. Rather, they did not look to see how it could be integrated through foreign direct investment or any other type of project where you could have used the additional power on to the grid, but still ensuring that T&TEC profits from it rather than it being a burden on the system of T&TEC.”