Andrea Perez-Sobers
Senior Reporter
andrea.perez-sobers@guardian.co.tt
The Government’s decision to halt electricity from flowing onto the national grid from T&T’s largest solar farm has ignited fierce criticism from former ministers, energy experts and renewable energy advocates, all warning the country risks undermining its energy transition and wasting an investment that was expected to transform the electricity sector.
This after Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath confirmed to Business Guardian last week Thursday that the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) is no longer absorbing electricity generated by the 92-megawatt Brechin Castle Solar Ltd (BCSL) facility, the country’s first utility-scale solar farm. He disclosed that the plant stopped feeding the grid at the end of January and blamed shortcomings in planning and contractual arrangements under the former administration.
The Brechin Castle facility, jointly owned by Shell (35 per cent), bpTT (35 per cent) and the National Gas Company (30 per cent), was expected to supply about eight per cent of Trinidad and Tobago’s electricity demand while freeing up natural gas for export and higher-value downstream industries.
The project represented the country’s biggest renewable energy investment and, once fully commissioned, was expected to become the largest utility-scale solar farm in the Caribbean.
Former ministers push back
Former energy minister Stuart Young dismissed the Government’s handling of the issue as a major policy failure, arguing that officials had ignored the project’s broader economic value.
“It is very disappointing to see the Government take such a backward step. This project was significant on many fronts for Trinidad and Tobago and was done in collaboration with both bp and Shell.”
Young maintained that the project’s economics extended well beyond electricity generation.
“The cost of the project and a kilowatt of electricity was globally competitive. A major benefit was the saving of molecules of natural gas away from loss-making power generation and the availability of NGC taking that natural gas and selling it to commercial customers in the petrochemical sector or using it in LNG.”
He argued that battery storage was never intended to form part of the design because electricity generated during daylight hours was expected to flow directly onto the national grid.
“There was no battery storage because all of the power generated was to be immediately absorbed into our national electricity grid. Battery storage is not only expensive but it was unnecessary as the driver was producing electricity via a renewable source, thereby saving natural gas which would have been used in electricity generation and selling those molecules of gas for significantly more.”
Young added that the project also created opportunities beyond electricity production.
“Additionally, this project earned carbon credits and produced 8 per cent of our electricity needs via clean, green renewable means. This scale of solar power plant can also contribute significantly to huge projects that require large amounts of electricity, as it was set to generate 92 MWs.”
He pointed to emerging industries requiring massive electricity supplies.
“You would see the AI Hyperscale Data Centers being proposed to use over 100 MWs. We were also exploring the use of solar power generated being used in Green Hydrogen production.”
Young concluded that, “It is very disturbing how the uninformed decisions being made by the UNC are setting T&T back decades.”
The former administration had also advanced plans for another large renewable energy project at Orange Grove. That development, led by Lightsource bp on behalf of bp Alternative Energy T&T and Shell Renewables Caribbean Ltd, was later shelved after Cabinet decided to use the land for another purpose.
Former public utilities minister Marvin Gonzales also criticised the Government’s position, arguing that renewable generation would have reduced pressure on both taxpayers and the country’s gas supplies.
“The recent report I read confirms that this is a backward step by the Government. The solar farm was meant to transition our electricity generation into a more resilient and modern eco-friendly system with less dependence on fossil fuels.”
He contended that diverting less gas into electricity generation would have benefited the wider economy.
“More gas would have become available to support our energy industry and earn much more scarce foreign exchange.”
Gonzales added that lower gas consumption by T&TEC would also have reduced the burden created by electricity subsidies.
“The rising debt owed to NGC by T&TEC as a result of the gas subsidy would have been limited in the coming years as less gas would have been needed to generate electricity. This would have saved taxpayers billions in the next decade.”
He also defended the absence of battery storage.
“Battery storage would have made the project very expensive, and the technical advice was that it was not needed given the fact that the electricity generated was to be immediately placed on the national grid.”
Gonzales argued that renewable electricity would also have supported future green hydrogen production while helping Trinidad and Tobago reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“It is just political spite and narrow-mindedness that influenced this policy shift by the Government, and yet again, they have placed Trinidad and Tobago at the back of the class.”
One source told the Business Guardian that incorporating batteries into a solar facility of that size would have increased capital expenditure by between 70 and 100 per cent, making the project significantly less attractive commercially. The source added that the 92-megawatt output during daylight hours was expected to be balanced by reducing generation from existing gas-fired power stations, allowing natural gas savings without the need for expensive battery systems.
With electricity no longer flowing from the country’s flagship solar facility, attention is now turning to whether technical upgrades, battery storage and long-term grid modernisation can revive a project once promoted as the centrepiece of Trinidad and Tobago’s renewable energy future.
Grid problems exposed
Energy sector expert Dr Thackwray Driver described the situation as deeply disappointing but cautioned that the difficulties point to broader weaknesses within the country’s electricity system rather than flaws in renewable energy itself.
“As someone who has long advocated for more renewable energy in Trinidad & Tobago, the news that the biggest solar project in the English-speaking Caribbean was unable to dispatch electricity to the grid comes as a big disappointment.”
Driver explained that maintaining grid stability appears to have become the principal obstacle.
“What has become clear is that T&TEC has faced significant grid management problems with accepting the intermittent electricity onto the grid.”
He noted that system operators reportedly had to increase spinning reserves from gas-fired generators to accommodate fluctuating solar generation.
“According to industry sources, the volume of gas required to keep this spinning reserve available from these power stations is surprisingly even more than the savings in gas from the implementation of the solar project.”
Driver observed that T&TEC had previously indicated the grid could comfortably accommodate the solar electricity.
“While T&TEC previously publicly and repeatedly stated that they could easily absorb the intermittent solar from the project onto the grid, this apparently turned out not to be the case when the electricity actually began to flow.”
He believes ageing generating equipment and changes to control systems complicated operations.
“The immediate solution to this problem is the installation of batteries on the grid to smooth the flow of the electricity from the solar plant onto the grid and enable grid stability without the need for an increased natural gas-fired spinning reserve.”
Driver welcomed the Inter-American Development Bank’s move to seek consultants for an Integrated Resource and Resilience Plan to modernise the country’s electricity network over the next two decades, saying the exercise was overdue.
He also pointed to global changes in electricity markets.
“The boom in AI data centres, especially in the USA, has put a strain on the turbine manufacturing supply chain and with demand outstripping supply, prices are reported to have more than doubled in the past few years.”
That trend, he argued, has made renewable power increasingly competitive compared with new gas-fired generation.
Driver stressed that the Brechin Castle experience should not derail the country’s renewable ambitions.
“Clearly lessons need to be learnt from this experience, but it must not be used to undermine the overall push to increase renewable energy penetration and to reduce the volume of natural gas being used to generate electricity.”
Beyond one solar farm
Economic activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh also described the project’s suspension as a major setback, framing the issue as an economic rather than environmental one.
“I think this is a very tragic situation that we have shut down this project. I think everybody would agree with that.”
He argued Trinidad and Tobago should go much further by establishing an industrial estate dedicated to manufacturing renewable energy components.
“I think we need to develop an industrial estate solely devoted to making components for the solar and renewable industries in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean.”
Kublalsingh suggested the country could partner with international manufacturers to produce solar panels, batteries, inverters and other equipment locally.
He also proposed large-scale development of solar-powered smart homes to reduce household living costs while creating demand for locally manufactured products.
“The best economic option for Trinidad and Tobago is to invest in these, not just a solar farm, but an industrial estate totally devoted to the production of components.”
He maintained that energy security has become increasingly important as geopolitical tensions reshape global energy markets.
“We have to go full-scale with solar and renewable industries. And not just industries, but the technologies. We have to create our own technology.”
Industry sources familiar with the Brechin Castle project also defended the original design, explaining that adding battery storage would have dramatically increased construction costs.
