Energy Storage: The Key to This Island’s Environmental and Economic Salvation?

As part of its ambitious plan to become a 100% renewable energy and carbon-neutral economy by 2030, the island nation of Barbados is investigating – and put to the test – an energy storage pilot project that could drive investment in the country’s economy.

A four-year pilot deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) will be conducted, ordered by Barbados’s Fair Trading Commission (FTC). The first two years will be dedicated to the design, procurement, installation, and grid connection of the BESS equipment while the two remaining years will cover operation, gathering of relevant data to assess project performance and technological viability.

BESS installations of 4-hour, 3-hour, and 2-hour duration will be used across multiple systems of different sizes to gather data on the functioning of energy storage systems and their value to the electricity grid. Projects could be entitled to the FTC’s storage tariff if they meet the defined criteria of “used and useful”, meaning that they provide three or more “storage power services” – including peak shaving, reducing renewable energy curtailment, voltage control, and power factor control – and at least two voltage and/or reactive power services to the grid.