Renewable energy projects must be adaptable to impacts of climate change – Caribbean expert

Feb 19, 2022 News

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Kaieteur News – As Guyana prepares to modernise its electricity provision services, by shifting its dependence on fossil fuels and moving towards cleaner energy, utilising its powerful waterfalls, solar and even wind resources available, the country has been warned to ensure that its future projects are adaptable to climate change, as if this key aspect is not taken into consideration, it could amount to significant losses for the country.

This is according to Head of Technical Programmes at the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), Dr. Devon Gardner who holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Chemical Physics with specialisation on numerical analysis from the University of the West Indies.
Dr. Gardner gave his advice to Guyana on day three of the International Energy Conference at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.
In his presentation, he explained, “We have electricity systems that are based on centralised grids (and) centralised generation plants. In many instances, there is a limited diversification in the fuels that are produced in our electricity. We see what happens sometimes when we have disruptions to those power plants. If it is that, we have a power supply issue; it could bring our whole grid down. Same with liquid fuels for cars, we have motor vehicle systems that are based on liquid fuels and there is very limited diversity in the structure of our energy systems and so it means that there is very little that is required for our systems to be brought down.”
Given that these systems continue to remain volatile, he said that it is very important for the new alternatives to be designed in such a way that limits significant losses. But while the need to reconfigure these systems also remain a priority, Dr. Gardner pointed out that in integrating renewable energy, it is critical for the systems to be built in a manner more adaptable to climate change.
According to the specialist, “Many of the systems that we have are naturally going to be ones that are impacted by many external shocks. As we shift towards renewable, there are some things that we must be mindful of. Renewables are probably the most climate sensitive resource options we have so it’s not simply just replacing a diesel plant with a solar plant or a wind plant. It’s about reconfiguration, a holistic reconfiguration because if we do not look at a holistic reconfiguration, we might end up putting a solar system then we have solar systems that are impacted in some countries by hurricanes and what we do is replace one vulnerability for another.”
In further presenting his view on the matter, he made reference to the fact that Venezuela, Guyana’s neighbour, was impacted by drastic effects of climate change since their power supply was dependent on power generated by hydro.
“We have seen what happened in Venezuela years ago…when because of the 100 percent dependence of Venezuela on hydropower, when there was drought, we saw what the drought did to their electricity systems,” he said.
To this end, the Head of the Renewable Energy Centre said that while clean diversification is important, it is always recommended that flexible options be considered so as to avoid a shutdown of power supply in countries. A flexible option would include a mixture of renewable energy options, to avoid total dependency on a specific source.
“Looking at the whole picture, it’s really about trying to look at adaptation, how we build our systems that they are adaptable to the impacts of climate change. Our solar systems must be built in such a way that if we lose them, we have means to replace the energy that they would have been producing,” Dr. Gardner explained.
Similarly, when it comes to hydropower, the specialist noted that these systems must be built while considering the hydrological cycles and the impact of climate on those hydrological cycles. He said, “we must understand how sea level rise, how temperature change over the five and 10 years and 20 years projected periods of weather and climate cycles will affect these and how we must mix and match demand with the supply side as the impact of climate will affect both.”
Currently, Guyana is moving towards cleaner and renewable energy. For instance, the country will be pursuing its Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, with construction slated to commence in the latter part of this year. Monies have also been allocated in this year’s Budget for solar power projects, while the Hope Wind Farm is also close to fruition.

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