Aim: The overall objective is to reduce fossil fuels dependence in targeted countries. However, specific objectives include capacity building, development of an RE & EE market, and public awareness.
Agency: CDB, EU-CIF, UK-DFID
Partners: GoSVG, VINLEC
Background:
St. Vincent and the Grenadines with the support of the CDB embarked on the Sustainable Energy for Eastern Caribbean (SEEC) - Energy Efficiency Measures and Solar Photovoltaic Plant Project to improve the public sector energy efficiency and expand the country’s renewable energy production. The Project comprises of energy efficiency measures in public buildings, the procurement and installation of LED street lamps and consumption monitoring equipment, the disposal of used lamps and the installation of a solar PV system. This project consists of the following components:
- Retrofitting of approximately 7,220 HPS street lights with LED fixtures.
- The environmentally sustainable disposal of the old streetlight fixtures and lamps.
- Energy Efficiency retrofits in 20 public buildings including an energy management system for the Financial Services complex as a design-supply-install contract.
- A 600 kW ground mounted solar PV plant as a design-supply-install contract.
The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (GOSVG) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in an amount equivalent to USD6.026 million to execute the Project under a combination of loan and grant through 14/OR-STV & GA 44/STV - Energy Efficiency Measures and Solar Photovoltaic Plant. This amount is augmented with counterpart contributions from GOSVG and St. Vincent Electricity Services Limited (VINLEC) of the equivalent of USD0.545 million and USD0.306 million respectively.
Status:
- Since the last reporting period, there have been no significant change in the overall progress of each project component. Notably, work has commenced in the fourth component of the project – with a contract signed between One St. Vincent (OSV) Group Inc. and the Ministry of Urban Development, Energy, Seaports, Grenadine Affairs and Local Government.
- The installation of 7,380 streetlights nation-wide have been completed to date. All HPS bulbs have been crushed and their brackets and metal casings disposed of through an arrangement between the contractor and the Solid Waste Management Unit. This project was designed to save 1,383 MWh of energy annually with an associated cost savings of XCD 914,100 (including VAT) per annum. During the period June 2020 to December 2025, the total energy savings projected by this component of the project is approximately 7,372 MWh, reflecting a total cost savings of XCD 4.9M (including VAT).
- A senior administrative decision was taken to construct a 500-kW plant as opposed to the originally proposed 600 kW solar farm. The system has already been installed and performance guarantee tests and certification exercises are on-going. To date (July 2025), this system has already generated over 1,626 MWh of electricity at an estimated cost savings of XCD 732,000 – corresponding to a CO2 avoidance of 650 tons.
- Despite the fact that 20 buildings were initially identified for energy efficiency interventions, a building condition report determined that only 13 of these buildings were suitable to be retrofitted based on their physical conditions. Based on available funding for this component, and the volume of work to be done, at least three of these buildings were selected- the National Public Library, the SVG Coast Guard Base and the Administrative Building. This component of the Energy Efficiency Measures and Solar Photovoltaic Plant Project includes the:
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- Improvement of air conditioning system efficiency within the selected public buildings.
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- Improvement of lighting system which will include the replacement of fluorescent tubes and incandescent and high-pressure sodium bulbs and fittings with LED lamps and fixtures and the installation of time and occupancy-activated switches in strategic intermittently occupied areas;
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- Installation of estimated of building-integrated solar PV energy generating systems to meet the 25% expected energy efficiency reductions across all selected. This will include either, the expansion and tie-in to existing solar PV installations, or the supply, installation and commissioning of new PV sets.
A site visit was conducted in February, 2024 by the project’s inspection and certification (I&C) Consultants where a meeting was held with OSV. The following overview was contained in the Aide Memoire of the visit.
In the National Public Library, electrical designs are completed by the contractor pertaining to lighting, HVAC – with recommendations for making achieving the contract’s targets. Designs are still being completed for the Coast Guard base and Administrative Building Facilities. Recommendations made during the electrical design works will be carried out to achieve the project’s targets.