News Sustainable Energy
1 min.
Last week, Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy Policy Rob Jetten discussed energy in the Caribbean Netherlands with the Dutch House of Representatives’ (Tweede Kamer) Commission for Economic and Climate Affairs. His fellow House members Henri Bontebal (CDA), Suzanne Kröger (GroenLinks), Raoul Boucke (D66), and Cristine Teunissen (PvdD) had been adamant in their wish for Minister Jetten not to forget about the Caribbean Netherlands during the debate.
“I want to reach 100% renewable energy [production] as soon as possible”, Minister Jetten stated during the debate in regard to the Dutch Caribbean, “We will already be taking big steps in the short term”. He also admitted that his predecessors had fallen short in terms of promoting and encouraging sustainability in the Dutch Caribbean. To underline this admission, he referenced the plans of Water- en Energiebedrijf Bonaire (Water and Energy Company Bonaire) that had been collecting dust for over two years when he was sworn in as Minister, despite the plans being ready for execution. The goal is now to search for additional funds to encourage and improve the production of sustainable energy on the island.
Roadmap to sustainability
Minister Jetten, who opened the debate about the Caribbean Netherlands with “And now, my favorite topic: the Caribbean Netherlands!”, also announced that he will present a complete roadmap with steps, a total package as he called it himself, by this summer, including the necessary steps for financing per island. He repeated what he had stated earlier this year about his idea to make the Dutch Caribbean a worldwide showcase for sustainability. Seeing as this will require more money than the amount that has currently been reserved by the government, he has started looking for additional funds.
The expectation is that with more windmills, solar energy parks, and batteries for storage, the production of renewable energy on the islands can reach 80% relatively quickly. The roadmaps we mentioned earlier are meant to provide a concrete set of steps to reach that goal. It will be interesting to see what the Ministry can come up with and to what extent the plans will be financed. This will, in great part, determine the rate at which the Caribbean Netherlands can work towards becoming a true sustainability showcase.
The basis for this article was originally published on www.dosierkoninkrijksrelaties.nl in April 2022.
