BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Tuesday September 16, 2014, CMC – Barbados has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the People’s Republic of China resulting in the donation of 25,000 LED lights and 1000 air-conditioning units to support the island’s climate change efforts.
A government statement said that Energy Minister Darcy Boyce, who signed the agreement with Chinese Ambassador, Wang Ke noted that electricity accounted for a significant percentage of government’s operating costs estimated at more than BDS$100 million (One BDS dollar =US$0.50 cents) annually.
He said that lighting and air-conditioning accounted for the majority of electricity usage and costs.
In an effort to reduce these recurring expenses, the Energy Minister said government intended to retrofit 75 state-owned buildings with energy efficiency lighting. It is also planned to replace aging and inefficient air-conditioning units which have been identified through energy audits.
“It is the view of the government of Barbados that the utilisation of LEDs would reduce the energy consumption, through lighting, by 50 per cent in Government-owned buildings,” Boyce said, adding that replacing the air-conditioning units with more energy efficient models would also assist Barbados in complying with its international obligations to phase out the use of ozone depleting substances.
He said the saving as a result of the new Chinese donation is estimated BDS$1.4 million annually.
Boyce said that government’s original goal was to attain 29 per cent of electricity generation from renewable energy sources and a 22 per cent reduction in the use of electricity consumption by 2029.
He said these goals are expected to be achieved before that year.
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Barbados to benfit from Chinese donation of LED lights, air-conditioning units
