Above: Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart (UN Photo/Marco Castro)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados’ cabinet has approved the $188.5 million USD Mangrove Pond Green Energy complex at the Mangrove Pond landfill.

The approval of the project, which will include solar power and wind power facilities, was announced by Environment Minister Dr Denis Lowe.

It will also include a programme to manage solid waste disposal and convert waste into energy.

“What we are also going to be doing in that package of services is to decommission cells one, two and three [at the landfill] and commission the new cell four towards the end of June,” Lowe said.

By converting waste, the project will turn 350 tonnes of solid waste per day into between 10 and 14 megawatts of electricity.

It could also give Barbados the opportunity to produce and sell carbon credits.

“We could earn quite a bit for selling the green credits,” he said.

In total, the project could produce as much as 25 megawatts of power.

“Waste generation in Barbados grows almost by the day because of the increase in the housing stock and other factors,” he said. “[The project] really is a broad framework that includes a number of living aspects that should put Barbados in good stead in the future.”