News
Getting to Clean Energy takes more than money says FortisTCI Finance Director
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, June 19, 2023 – The Turks and Caicos has a booming economy and electricity costs are a significant burden for residents, so why isn’t the clean energy transition happening faster ?
Shernelle Capron, Director of Financial Services and Supply Chain Management at Fortis TCI explained some of the behind the scenes metrics that affect the move
Speaking at the Turks and Caicos Energy Forum Capron said that the process to financing the massive transition was a balancing act with both pitfalls and benefits specific to the TCI.
“These clean energy projects require a significant investment, but alongside that it is important for us to balance the needs of our stakeholders and maintain the integrity of the existing grids.”
She revealed that this year most of the company’s budget was being funneled toward sustaining the grids (28
“Just looking at these numbers it’s a lot of cash flow that goes on behind the scenes. It’s not just automatic and a lot of our capital projects are mostly financed by debt.”
To get those loans Fortis must abide by the metrics set by their creditors, which are also affected by geo-political issues around the globe like the Russia/Ukraine invasion, supply chain issues and more.
“It’s actually a big issue that the electricity company is dealing with— one of the things that we are finding is that there are daily price hikes in these critical materials and supplies that are needed to run the operations as well as the renewable energy projects. As we go through this transition, I know we talked about the cost of renewable energy, but [also important] is even the availability of these critical supplies.”
Exploring how financial institutions locally and internationally could boost green financing she suggested more customized financing options that are geared to lowering the cost of this renewable energy transition. The key to fixing the issue and agreeing on solutions that benefit companies and residents was partnership, she stressed.
The utility company cannot be expected to do this on our own when we need to come to the table because the decisions we make are going to affect the entire Turks and Caicos Islands. You can’t look at this in isolation or be selfish about it. it has to be done with partnership”
Echoing statements by Washington Misick, TCI Premier, she said the lack of a specific regulatory framework is the biggest barrier to the clean energy transition locally. The government has promised that establishing a regulatory system is a priority of the Administration.