The Barbados Public Sector Smart Energy programme, which is seeking to cut energy costs and reduce dependence on imported fuel, is getting support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which has approved a US$17 million loan.
According to an IDB news release, the programme’s resources are expected to be supplemented with a grant from the European Union (EU) of up to €5.8 million (approximately US$7.6 million at the time of the loan’s approval)—the first such grant provided by the EU under a framework agreement with the IDB. The agreement facilitates cooperation in areas such as social cohesion and poverty reduction, regional integration and trade development, renewable energies and energy efficiency,