It cost more than $2 billion for Barbados to wean itself off fossil fuel dependence as it advances its 2030 energy goals, acting Prime Minister Kerry Symmonds revealed on Tuesday.

“The entire renewable energy transition is probably going to cost this country in excess of $2bn with a B,” he told journalists as the Mottley administration launched a direct negotiations process for oil and natural gas exploration.

Symmonds insisted that the transition away from fossil fuels remains a key objective under the 2019 National Energy Policy, even as Barbados explores the development of offshore oil and natural gas resources.