(CNS): The rapid uptake of the latest release of just 3MWs of renewable energy capacity under CUC’s CORE programme is due to the “scarcity and artificial demand” intentionally created by CUC and allowed by OfReg, according to Cayman Renewable Energy Association Chairman James Whittaker. In a statement posted on social media, he said the latest incremental release of grid access for solar owners is acting as a barrier to the development of Cayman’s renewable sector.

The release of capacity this month was entirely taken up in just five hours, demonstrating the demand from domestic users of solar, and CREA said this “stop-start” release is undermining Cayman’s national energy policy targets and the slow adoption of green energy.

Responding to comments made on Cayman Marl Road’s social media platform by CUC’s VP for Customer Service and Technology, Sacha Tibbetts, CREA said there should be no barriers to the demand, “least of all the constriction of capacity by a monopoly utility company that benefits from the sale of fossil fuel-generated energy”.

In a statement that raised a number of concerns about Cayman’s slow adoption of solar energy, CREA said that to meet the Cayman Islands Government’s energy policy goal that 70% of all power will be generated from renewable by 2037, the island should be aiming to install as much distributed solar capacity now as it can.

“This kind of solar energy takes up existing developed space, such as rooftops, and saves degrading natural land for large solar farms, among other benefits. The island needs to be installing tens of MW’s worth of capacity every year to reach this 70% target, not having CUC release small amounts of capacity every few months or years,” CREA stated.

This stop-start increase of capacity is not sustainable for either installers or consumers, CREA argued. “This sporadic and limited release of capacity has already put local companies out of business,” it said, adding that the main problem is CUC “drip feeding the island renewable capacity” rather than allowing individuals to take installations on their properties into their own hands.

CUC has said on a number of occasions that it is not withholding the capacity to manipulate the sector but does it because of the need to manage grid stability and that the company is keen to roll out much more renewable capacity. “The primary strategy of the company is to get as much… affordable solar on the grid as possible,” Tibbets said when he appeared on CMR, dismissing the allegations that CUC is deliberately undermining the adoption of green energy.

Tibbetts said it was about ensuring a secure, safe supply of electricity for all consumers, and denying that CUC was wedded to diesel, he said its long-term goal was 100% dependence on renewable resources.

However, CREA said that CUC’s own 2017 study showed that the release of more capacity would not make the grid unstable and claimed that CUC’s approach is fuelled by other reasons.

CUC began the CORE and DER programmes well over a decade ago, but Cayman is still only generating around 3% of its energy needs from renewables. The Cayman Islands Government has also expressed concern about the slow adoption. Last April, Premier Wayne Panton announced CIG plans to take ownership of future renewable facilities to create more energy security for the country. But since that announcement almost a year ago, there have been no further developments.

CREA believes the problem is not about the slow development of large-scale facilities but the limit on allowing the installation of solar technology all over the island on rooftops and other suitable surfaces. Among the many arguments that CREA makes about what it says is CUC’s failing approach and OfReg’s failure to address it is the power company’s goal of providing large utility solar, which would enable CUC to control the resource and continue its monopoly.

CREA noted that CUC is “the primary beneficiary of intentional actions to limit the adoption of consumer renewables in the Cayman Islands, which risks putting their competitors in the renewable energy sector out of business by shutting down their ability to operate for months at a time. CUC hopes to then capitalize on this situation once the damage is done,” the association said.

CREA was formed by the government to help oversee Cayman’s adoption of renewable energy and the development of the green sector. But to create more green jobs, the organisation said that CUC needs to allow a continual release of capacity until the country reaches the targets.

In the wake of another minor release of capacity and indications from CUC that it may release a few more megawatts in about three months, CREA is now asking the power provider to declare the maximum capacity to which solar energy could be raised right now and provide evidence of this to the public.

“Meeting the renewable energy targets in the National Energy Policy but enabling a renewable energy monopoly in the process will hurt the people of the Cayman Islands while only benefiting CUC and its shareholders,” CREA said. “Renewable energy is a disruptive technology and democratizing force;
everyone can own a piece of it, and this is what monopoly utilities fear.”

CNS has reached out to CUC for comment, and we are awaiting their response.

See the full statement from CREA here or below: