Barbados is to host the largest clean hybrid power plant in the Caribbean, producing baseload power for 16,000 Barbadian households from solar and locally produced green hydrogen
Rubis Energie, the parent company of Rubis Caribbean, has acquired 51% of the largest hydrogen power project in the Caribbean, Renewstable® Barbados (“RSB”), developed by HDF Energy, a release from the company said last week.
This transaction follows the strategic agreement signed between the two energy companies in June 2021. HDF Energy is also in active discussions with the Barbados Sustainable Energy Co-operative Society to offer 30% of the project prior to construction, the release added.
RSB is a large grid-friendly energy power plant project that will supply clean, resilient, stable and competitive baseload electricity 24 hours per day to 16,000 homes.
Located in St Philip, RSB will aid the island in achieving its 100% renewable energy mandate by 2030.
Using only the sun as a primary source of electricity (50MW solar), RSB combines 128MWh of green hydrogen and battery storage to deliver a continuous output of power, day and night. The release said that the project is currently under Government regulatory review and approval.
Completely carbon-free, RSB has been designed to effectively replace certain aging, costly and polluting assets that currently burn Heavy Fuel Oil or Jet Fuel.
The release said that RSB is committed to promoting the dual use of solar energy and agriculture on the site. A large-scale sheep farming facility (1830 head) will be facilitated with both direct sheep grazing and grass harvesting within the solar power plant and surrounding green areas.
Sheep husbandry will be developed on the facilities in order to maintain dual use of the land, producing lamb meat and skins locally, and generating direct and indirect local jobs while simultaneously saving and creating vital foreign exchange.
During its 2-year construction period RSB will create around 200 jobs, and support around 25 permanent local jobs during its operation. Both HDF Energy and Rubis have their regional head offices in Barbados and currently employ over 1,500 professionals across the region.
RSB paves the way for the duplication of Renewstable® power plants at a global scale