Multiple stakeholders from across Saint Lucia’s energy landscape convened at the Harbor Club recently for a national workshop hosted by St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) and consultants ESB International. The gathering marked a significant step in developing the country’s Integrated Resource and Resilience Plan (IRRP), a long-term blueprint to guide the future of the island’s electricity sector in keeping with the new draft Electricity Act.
LUCELEC is developing the IRRP with technical support from ESB International and inclusive of feedback from these key energy sector stakeholders.
The company’s Chief Strategy Officer, Ian Peter, says the engagement will ensure the IRRP reflects the interest of all stakeholders in the country’s energy sector.
“LUCELEC is supposed to present an IRRP to the Regulator for approval. The Regulator takes this to the stakeholders for some level of engagement. What LUCELEC is trying to do from a perspective of risk management is engage stakeholders in the process of developing that IRRP that we will be presenting to the Regulators.”
Chief Energy and Public Utilities Officer Terrence Gilliard endorsed this proactive approach, as it introduces “transparency and inclusiveness” and is essential for sector modernization.
“The IRRP is consequential to the transition of our electricity sector to a path of sustainability and of course it has major implications on cost, cost of optimization, system reliability and the flexibility and climate resilience of our energy systems in Saint Lucia. The inclusion of the stakeholders is necessary to ensure this process has legitimacy, is credible and we mainstream national priorities throughout the planning process.”
One of the key players in the energy sector is Denell Florius. The Founder of solar energy company EcoCarib welcomed the opportunity to have a say in his industry’s future direction.
“This process is significant in chartering the path for the next ten to 20 years for renewable energy in Saint Lucia, to really get us to where we need to be not just at the local level but in the international eyes as well. The key thing is that with this everybody knows what role they play and that is very important and that also speaks to development partners and investors as well because by having this IRRP process in place and having a specific guide to these development partners, getting access to capital for Saint Lucia to develop the renewable energy sector is not going to be a problem.”
CARILEC Executive Director Dr Cletus Bertin applauds the collaborative approach to developing the IRRP.
“Not at the end of the process when everything is all done and dusted but at the very beginning where it matters to get stakeholder views, opinions, inputs, concerns so that feeds into the planning process and delivers a plan that speaks to the various requirements, needs and concerns of the various constituency groups on island. Not just LUCELEC’s, not just government’s, the regulators but other critical stakeholders in the business sector and at large,” says Dr Bertin.
LUCELEC System Development Engineer Abigail Charles from the company’s Planning Department is the Internal Project Manager leading the IRRP’s development. She says the plan will be a 20-year roadmap for the country’s energy sector.
“Integrated Resource and Resiliency Planning is seeking to set a strategic roadmap for the energy future of our country. They’re done for all different countries, specifically we want to look at high level goals including sustainability, reliability and affordability. As part of our goals of doing this IRRP, we want to engrain reliability as a non-negotiable while still balancing sustainability and affordability for all.”
Consultant Nicholas Codd of ESB International has worked in 120 countries and logged more than 50 years in the energy sector and breaks down the specific components of the IRRP.
“We look at what we need to deliver the resources, we look at the systems and we look at their resilience, that’s the second “r” – the first piece is integration and that’s bringing those two together but also bringing through the key parties that are in it, that’s the parties that are going to build and develop out some of those systems. It’s the government ministries that are going to be looking at making sure that the power systems are there to support economic growth on the island and the regulators, the utilities regulator has a role as well where they’re looking to see that that whole process is being well managed, well implemented and they will regulate that and have their input into it.”
Once completed, LUCELEC will present the IRRP to the Regulator, the National Utilities Regulatory Commission (NURC) who will be responsible for consultative review and approval. The plan will serve as a living document that is expected to be reviewed every five years to incorporate shifts in technology, economic and climate considerations.