Known as the most important global energy award for sustainability, the Energy Globe Award was established 20 years ago and honours the best projects addressing environmental issues. There are 5 award categories – Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Youth, and a special category which varies from year to year.
This year, the award was given to a project implemented in destination Barbados. The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) won, for the third time, the coveted national Energy Globe Award by Arthur D. Little.
This time, the award was conferred on a project funded by Green Climate Fund (GCF) that is being implemented in Barbados by the CCCCC in collaboration with the Barbados Water Authority. The project entitled, Water Sector Resilience Nexus for Sustainability in Barbados (WSRN S-Barbados), seeks to increase the supply, distribution, quality, availability, access, and utilization of water through the incorporation of renewable energy technologies.
“The WSRN S-Barbados project is a flagship GCF project being implemented by the CCCCC, a regional Direct Access Entity to the GCF and it is one of the best performing projects globally among Small Island Development States (SIDS),” said Dr Colin Young, Executive Director at the CCCCC. “We are honoured to have won this award; it demonstrates the capacity and experience of the CCCCC to develop and implement, in partnership with CARICOM Member States, innovative and transformative projects that build the climate resilience and sustainable development of our Caribbean people,” he added.
Dr Elon Cadogan, Project Manager of the WSRN S-Barbados, said: “With climate change, Barbados has experienced negative impacts to its water resources, where water scarcity has increased the vulnerability of its population, especially to small farmers, and entrepreneurs. During drought periods, the island has experienced decreasing underground recharge rates of its aquifers, which provide 95% of the island’s potable water.”
Droughts have also affected the agricultural sector by reducing crop yields and productivity, in addition to causing premature death of livestock and poultry. In an effort to improve the water resilience of Barbados to the effects of climate change, the Government of Barbados and the CCCCC secured a grant of US$27.6 million from the Green Climate Fund in 2015. Combined, with the co-financing from the BWA, the total project will invest over US$45.2 million to improve the water resilience of Barbados over 5 years.
To date, the project has installed PV systems at the Bowmanston pumping station on the island, to be followed by installing additional PV systems at the Belle and Hampton pumping stations, thus providing renewable energy power to support the distribution of potable water to households and the surrounding distribution network, inclusive of farms and hurricane shelters. At the Belle pumping station, a station that supports most of the essential services, a natural gas micro-turbine will provide backup power on the possible occurrence of utility grid failure, automatically switching on, allowing for a continuous supply of water to highly populated areas.
This helps not only residents and businesses but the hospitality sector as well and insures a constant supply of clean flowing water for tourists. The Energy Globe Award is presented annually, with award ceremonies held nationally and internationally. Over 180 countries submit environmental projects for consideration.
Awards are given to agencies and individuals worldwide in both the private and public sectors and the NGO community.
