IN its continued effort to become more energy efficient, more electrical buses are expected to be added to the Government’s fleet of electric vehicles in Barbados.
The Barbados Nation reported that Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy Andrew Gittens said the addition of the buses was part of a US$30 million loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the second phase of the Sustainable Energy Investment Programme.
“During the first quarter of this financial year, Government signed the IDB loan which will see the recapitalisation of the Energy Smart Fund, which aims to increase the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures in the private sector by way of loans and grants.
“By December we expect the delivery of two additional electric buses to add to Transport Board’s electric fleet. We also want to bring in ten more during the next financial year,” he said.
The programme will also focus on expanding energy efficiency and renewable energy in over 100 public buildings.
Earlier this year, the Government signed two loan deals with the IDB New Energy reported.
In February, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said, “The $30 million USD that we just signed for with the smart energy allows us to be able to leverage renewable energy on many of the Governments properties. The Government of Barbados is spending about US $400 million a year on the importation of fuel at a time when the geopolitics of the world threatens to increase that amount because we don’t know when how or where we might have to now face a scarcity of supply and an increase in prices because of a decisions being taken elsewhere that might not always match the application of knowledge or wisdom.”
Mottley and IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno had signed a US$40 million loan for the digital transformation of public administration and a US$30 million loan as part of the Sustainable Energy Investment Programme (Smart Fund II).
