Amendments to the T&T Electricity Commission (T&TEC) Act and the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) Act are being considered to allow for incorporation of renewable energy.

Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre, in her contribution to a recent Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL) in Tarija, Bolivia, said these were among steps planned to create the necessary fiscal, legal and regulatory framework for the integration of renewable energy systems into the national grids system.

“As a first step we have developed a Feed-In Tariff (FIT) policy which provides the appropriate guides for establishing a tariff,” she said.

The minister added: “The government has also been receiving technical assistance from the Organisation of American States (OAS) under the Sustainable Energy Capacity Building Initiative (SECBI) by the Department of Sustainable Development. Currently, the OAS is assisting with the design of a toolkit for the development of renewable energy power purchase agreements and contracts. In support of the regulatory framework, the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) has developed product and technical standards related to RE technologies.”

Olivierre said the feasibility of a Waste to Energy (WtE) is being considered as “solid waste management is becoming a challenge in our small island nation.”

A Wind Resource Assessment Programme has been proposed to evaluate the feasibility of introduction of a wind farm and establishment of a local solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility is also being considered.

This article was originally published by the Guardian, here.