The Government of Montserrat (GoM) and its employees will benefit from the implementation of the project – Post-COVID Cost Reduction through Energy Efficiency. This is a 14-month project designed to increase the awareness of energy conservation and efficiency practices.
The project will be executed in 10 GoM owned and/or occupied facilities, with the main objective to reduce energy consumption within the public sector through a self-sustaining financial model. With the successful implementation, GoM will benefit through significant reduction in its utility cost and this will enable financial resources to be redirected to more essential services and needs.
The project is being spearheaded by the Energy Department within the Ministry of Communication, Works, Labor and Energy, and is being funded by the RESEMBID Programme in the region of €417,683. The Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity (RESEMBID) Programme commenced operations on January 1st, 2019, with financing under the European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean OCT Regional Programme.
There are 12 Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) under the programme – Aruba, Anguilla, Bonnaire, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Montserrat, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Barthelemy, Sint Maarten and Turks and Caicos. Its overarching objective is to provide support to the sustainable human development in the areas of resilience, sustainable energy and marine biodiversity to the 12 Caribbean OCTs.
This project was conceptualized to address Montserrat’s high dependency on imported fossil fuels, which is an issue affecting numerous Caribbean OCTs. This reliance exposes the country to the shipment delays and volatility of fuel prices, which have recently been increasing. The initial steps to achieving a green and sustainable energy future involves energy conservation through changes to human behaviours, and the implementation of energy efficient technologies.
This project commenced on Monday September 19, 2022 and involves several elements that will aid in achieving the overall goal. These include:
1) conducting 10 energy audits that will highlight areas of inefficiency;
2) retrofitting 10 government-occupied buildings with energy conservation equipment;
3) training of 10 energy department staff and MCC students;
4) drafting of policy to support the development of an energy efficiency financial model;
and
5) drafting of a framework to support the development of energy efficiency services in Montserrat.
The project is being facilitated by the Energy Department within the Ministry of Communications, Works, Labour and Energy (MCWLE), and will also be supported by RESEMBID Programme Manager for Sustainable Energy Nnyeka Prescod and external specialists during the implementation.
The survey will be sent to schools and parents but is also available on the Ministry of Education page. The results will assist in accessing external funding to improve school-based support programs
About RESEMBID:
The Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity Programme (RESEMBID) commenced operations on January 1, 2019, and will be implemented over a period of 58 months. The programme supports the sustainable human development efforts of the 12 Caribbean OCTs, namely: Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, and Saint-Barthélemy.
Financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean OCT Regional Programme, RESEMBID is being implemented by Expertise France, with the primary stakeholders being the 12 Caribbean OCTs. The Prime Minister of Sint Maarten has been designated Regional Authorizing Officer (RAO) for the 11th EDF Caribbean Regional Programme, and as such represents the 12 Caribbean OCTs vis-à-vis the EU. The RAO liaises with national authorities and other stakeholders of the Caribbean OCTs and plays a key role in information-sharing and knowledge management.
