T&T and the European Union (EU) have agreed to the installation of a commercial scale solar panel system, via a solar park, at Piarco International Airport with an annual generation capacity of 1,443,830 Kilowatt hours (kWh).
This Euro €4 million grant funded project is estimated to commence within the first quarter of 2020 and the implementation will take place over a period of 48 months, a statement by Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said.
The solar park project falls under the EU’s Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Initiative (GCCA+).
The GCCA+ s a European Union flagship initiative which is helping the world’s most vulnerable countries to address climate change.
Robinson-Regis said the ministry led the negotiations with the EU to secure resources for the project through its European Development Fund (EDF) Unit, adding that the EDF will continue to be involved in managing the resources of the project to ensure the benefits to T&T are realised.
The Planning Minister noted that the project is relevant to the achievement of T&T’s National Development Strategy, Vision 2030 and T&T’s commitments to the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.
“It contributes primarily to the progressive achievement of SDG Goal 13 on Climate Action, but also promotes progress towards Goals 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy, 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production and 9 on Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
“This will also reduce significant spending on electricity generation, resulting in significant financial savings in energy consumption by the Airports Authority of T&T,” the statement said.
In addition to helping this country meet its UN Climate Change commitments, other specific objectives of the project to T&T also include an increase in the availability and use of energy from renewable sources and an increase in the efficiency levels in the consumption of energy in T&T.
Other organisations involved in the overall project include the University of T&T (UTT), the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit (MEAU) of the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Energy, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).