27 November, Basseterre, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis – The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) continues to make major steps towards becoming less reliant on fossil fuels and carbon-neutral by 2022. The Bank completed its solar canopy farm in August 2020 as part of its greening of the campus initiative, in keeping with the vision of Governor Timothy N. J. Antoine to have all carbon emissions generated by the Bank, reduced to zero.
Senior Director, Support Services Management Department of the ECCB Wayne Myers said the solar farm produces just under a megawatt of energy which is about sixty percent of the Bank’s needs. Myers said that the Bank will now explore batteries as a source to store energy for night-time use. He further explained that the next phase of the greening of the campus project will focus on reducing consumption. In this regard, he said some six thousand CFL lights will be replaced with LED lights, a move which is expected to halve the bank’s energy consumption.
The Bank facilitated a tour of its solar canopy farm on 17 November as part of activities in Saint Christopher (Saint Kitts) and Nevis to observe November as CARICOM Energy Month. The touring party comprised the Honourable Minister with responsibility for energy, Shawn Richards, officials of the Department of Energy, students of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College, and the Advanced Vocational Education Centre.
Director of the Energy Unit in the Government of Saint Christopher (Saint Kitts) and Nevis, Bertil Browne said the tour of the ECCB solar canopy was a way to make the students more aware of what is happening in the energy industry. Speaking to the group of students on the tour, the Hon. Minister
with responsibility for energy, Shawn Richards encouraged them to consider the opportunities that the alternative energy sector presents as they contemplate their employment prospects.
More information is available on this week’s episode of ECCB Connects, on the ECCB website www.eccb-centralbank.org or its social media pages.