$967.1M Budgeted to Continue Govt’s Energy Management and Efficiency Programme
By: February 23, 2023 ,The Full Story
Implementation of the Government’s energy management and efficiency programme will continue during the new fiscal year with a $967.17 million allocation.
The sum is contained in the 2023/24 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.
The project, being spearheaded by the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET), aims to drive energy management and efficiency in government facilities and conserve fuel used for road transportation, thereby assisting to reduce the need for fuel imports.
Among the achievements, up to December 2022, are completion of technical study number two to support energy/electricity planning; completion of the engineering and supervision of structural impact assessment; and installation of urban traffic management system equipment.
An audit exercise for 2020/21 was done, and the contract for deep retrofitting works at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) was awarded.
Programmed activities for 2023/24 include the installation of energy efficient lighting in targeted public buildings; retrofitting of HEPA filtration system in 23 government buildings, including seven hospitals; and the commencement of technical study number three to support updating of the National Energy Policy.
Implementation of institutional capacity building for MSET, inclusive of a diagnostic study for an information technology (IT) platform, is also to be done.
The project, which commenced in November 2017 with an original completion date of November 2023, has been extended to December 2025.
Funding is being provided by the European Union (EU), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).