Policy barriers slow Caribbean renewable energy shift

A new report by global energy think tank Ember has indicated that, while the Caribbean has been installing solar panels at a much faster pace than official statistics — policy and regulatory bottlenecks are slowing the region’s transition away from costly imported fossil fuels.

The report, which examined electricity sector data across 13 Caribbean countries, estimates that 2280 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity was installed across the region between 2021 and 2024 — almost twice the 1269 MW captured in official statistics. Despite the faster pace of solar deployment across the region, renewables accounted for just about 9.1 per cent of the 64 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity generated across countries in 2024 — compared with 32 per cent globally.

In light of these findings, the report points to policy, rather than the cost of renewable technology, as a major setback on the pace of deployment.