Tag: renewable energy
OfReg blames CUC for stifling solar with low CORE rates
(CNS): The utility regulator has approved new rates and capacity brackets to increase the number of people on Grand Cayman taking up renewable energy generation options. OfReg said CUC’s Consumer Owned Renewable Energy (CORE) programme rates have stifled the adoption of green energy in Cayman and have done nothing to advance sustainability goals in the […]
CUC seeks 100MW of solar energy and storage for 2027
(CNS): With an eye on the National Energy Policy targets and the increase in demand for power, CUC has made an application to OfReg for a Certificate of Need (CON) for 131 megawatts of generating capacity, which includes 100MW of solar and storage. The remaining 31MW will be generated from fossil fuels, either diesel or […]
Policy falls short of a legal right to green energy
(CNS): The draft updated National Energy Policy includes changes promoting more equitable access to green energy sources. But officials have said the proposed new implementation plan only considers consumers’ right to access the national grid but doesn’t mandate it. Fourteen years after the CORE programme began, only 3.5% of local power comes from renewables, and […]
OfReg ‘surprised’ by PACT policy on green energy
(CNS): Heavily redacted minutes from an OfReg extraordinary board meeting on 2 May show that the utilities regulator was caught off guard by the PACT Government’s recent policy announcement to ensure public ownership of future green energy facilities. CNS has learned that OfReg had also failed to tell the Cabinet about its own plans, after […]
CUC’s CORE programme closed to new clients
(CNS): CUC has revealed its Consumer Owned Renewable Energy (CORE) programme is now fully subscribed and closed to new private customers. The quota for the initiative, designed to encourage people to produce their own renewable energy while staying on the grid, is full except for one remaining megawatt allocated to the public sector. This means […]
OfReg gives nod to CUC plan to ease off fossil fuels
(CNS): The utilities regulator, OfReg, has accepted a plan submitted by the Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) that sets out a road-map for future energy use and a transition from a fossil fuel based portfolio to one dominated by renewable energy, introducing natural gas and increasing the storage and baseload of renewable generation technologies. The plan was prepared by […]
CUC’s use of renewable energy up 250%
(CNS): As Caribbean Utilities Company published its financial results for the first quarter of 2018 this week, Grand Cayman’s power provider has also revealed an increase in renewable energy use on the grid from 1 million kilowatts to 3.5 million kilowatts — a 250% jump from the same period last year. The company’s residential customer base […]