Energy regulations

Grenada's National Energy Policy (GNEP) lays down the Government's objectives for shaping the energy sector in Grenada, in order to 'ensure access to affordable, equitable, and reliable energy sources and services to drive and secure national development, and to improve the quality of life for all of its citizens'.<br><br>&nbsp;The GNEP is based on seven core principles:<br>1) Energy Security;<br>2) Energy Independence;<br>3) Energy Efficiency;<br>4) Energy Conservation;<br>5) Environmental Sustainability;<br>6) Sustainable Resource Exploitation;<br>7) Rational Energy Prices; and<br>8) Energy Equity and Solidarity, including with future generations.<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;The GNEP further calls for a minimum of a 20% reduction of GHG emissions from fossil fuel combustion below 'Business As Usual' by 2020, and it sets a specific target for renewable energy: to provide 20% of all domestic energy used for electricity and transport by 2020. It also calls for the implementation of various measures to encourage energy efficiency and conservation in energy generation, transport and buildings sectors although it does not include specific targets.<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;In particular, the GNEP calls for a set of specific projects to be co-ordinated by the Government by 2020:<br>&nbsp;1) Complete feasibility and construct a 20MW geothermal plant<br>&nbsp;2) Construct an additional 20MW geothermal plant<br>&nbsp;3) Construct a 2.5MW wind turbine for Carriacou<br>&nbsp;4) Achieve 10% electricity generation by wind &amp; solar PV<br>&nbsp;5) Establish vehicle fuel efficiency standards<br>&nbsp;6) Achieve 20% market penetration with hybrid and electric vehicles.<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;It also demands the establishment of the necessary international structures, including a National Energy Commission representing relevant stakeholders that would 'review the achievement of the policy targets, receive comments from stakeholders (…) and feed this information back to government, recommending solutions where necessary'.<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;Finally, it offers a layout of a 10-year Grenada Energy Development Strategy (2010-2020), which provides for adoption of energy specific legislation such as Energy Efficiency Act, Geothermal Bill, and revision of the Electricity Supply Act. The proposed Energy Efficiency Act includes the following provisions:<br>1) Mandate commercial building planning regulations(e.g. mandatory renewable sources contribution to energy consumption for new buildings);<br>2) Require the use of energy efficiency standards and building codes for ventilation, cooling, water- and process-heating, lighting and in institutional, commercial and industrial buildings;<br>3) Require all government buildings of a certain size to have periodic energy audits and compliance audits;<br>4) Mandate the compilation and publication of sectoral benchmarking data (e.g., kWh per hotel room-night for the hotels sector);<br>5) Require commercial banks to provide financial incentives for investments in energy efficiency to businesses and homeowners;<br>6) Mandate specified fuel efficiencies for imported vehicles;<br>7) Require training in 'eco-driving' practices for public and private sector organisations;<br>8) Develop, monitor, publish and update indicators of national energy consumption and efficiency.<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;As of August 2014, the government had not passed legislation to make the measures outlined in the GNEP legally binding, but it is currently drafting a concession law for the exploration and exploitation of geothermal resources.