TRINIDAD – The Caribbean Energy Chamber (CEC) continues to remain focused on prioritising affordable net zero energy security for the region. CEC President and CEO, Eugene Tiah, says energy is one of the largest costs of the Caribbean’s GDP and depending on the source, is estimated to be around 15 per cent of GDP.  “Energy is therefore one of the most important factors influencing Caribbean economies and by extension the lives of all Caribbean citizens.” 

It was noted that historically, the regional energy chambers that have formed to help advocate on energy issues, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana and recently Suriname are from a supply side perspective, that is, fossil fuels supply. However there is a need for the energy demand side and the other Caribbean countries to have a co-operative, sustainable mechanism to help address energy security with the lowest carbon emissions as is possibly affordable.

The CEC President says currently renewable energy is approximately 9 per cent of the energy matrix for the Caribbean (including the Dominican Republic and hydro-electric power). If hydro-electric power is excluded, then renewables penetration is around 5 per cent with a significant portion of renewable energy being in the Dominican Republic.  

“Rollout of renewable energy is ‘de minimis’ currently in the Caribbean. As a region, we will get left behind competitively in all sectors as the rest of the World is “greening” at much quicker rates.  We need therefore to work together to resolve this situation as soon as possible and therefore, yes, the Caribbean Energy Chamber is crucially needed.”

It was stated CEC will be pragmatic in its approach to help enable the energy transition and one of its initial priorities is technical assistance and capacity rollout in a timely manner as there are areas of the Caribbean where there are surplus amounts of technical and other capacities which can be deployed immediately. CEC has developed an online mechanism to allow Caribbean government and relevant agencies, who need resources, to be able to access the pool of Caribbean technical, financial and legal resources available from the various official engineering, legal and other appropriate organisations.  

The new online Job Placement Facility which is available on the CEC website, will allow Caribbean government and related state agencies to access a wider pool of qualified candidates from the Caribbean. CEC hopes that this online mechanism will facilitate more efficient interactions between appropriate employers and professionals in the region.

In the first instance, the CEC will be able to connect Caribbean government and related state agencies with members from the Barbados Bar Association and Law Association of Trinidad & Tobago; Barbados Association of Professional Engineers and the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad & Tobago. (Loopnews.caribbean)…[+]