Recently (30 March), Acting Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon Walter Roban, gave closing remarks highlighting Bermuda's clean energy progress and learnings to energy professionals from 12 Caribbean Island nations, including Turks and Caicos, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and three selected participants from BELCO.
The Minister's involvement was a part of the closing session for the week-long Caribbean Energy Transition Academy Fellowship Summit. The Summit included site visits to Bermuda's solar and electric transportation projects, regional networking, and other immersive learning opportunities to advance regional clean energy initiatives.
Minister Roban explained, "I am grateful for our partnership with RMI and believe in the fellowship programme. As such, I am proud Bermuda is hosting this year's fellowship Summit as it exemplifies our commitment to collaborating and supporting the Region in building the skills necessary to meet its collective resilience and climate goals which are vital to us all."
Acting Minister of Transport Vance Campbell (the substantive Minister of Tourism) addressed the cohort at the summit kickoff and, following the event’s conclusion, said, “We are proud of the work that has commenced in Bermuda. We trust our efforts will encourage all Caribbean countries to accelerate policies and initiatives and commit to making this Region the leader in clean, renewable energy. We are grateful to RMI for the research and resources they have contributed to the Government of Bermuda.”
Aran McKittrick, Energy Transition Academy Fellow and Research and Development Officer at the Department of Energy, shared his experience at the Summit, "RMI's Global Fellowship Program (Energy Transition Academy) has provided an excellent opportunity for me to learn and share experiences with my colleagues in the Caribbean as to how we can best accelerate energy transition projects in the region, such as Bermuda's own Airport Solar and the EV Bus projects."
Amid increasingly severe, climate-induced hurricanes and volatile global oil and gas prices, energy resilience is a top priority in the Caribbean. The clean energy workforce gap impedes energy transition at the required rate and scale. Governments and utilities throughout the Region recognize the need for concerted, regionally focused clean energy training and capacity development to create a resilient, energy-independent future.
The Caribbean Energy Transition Academy Summit is a key portion of RMI's Global Fellowship Program, which aims to fast-track the development of utility-driven renewable energy projects through applied learning and experience exchange. In particular, the in-person Summit provides knowledge exchange and know-how for developing and implementing utility-scale solar-plus-battery storage and microgrids. RMI, the independent, global nonprofit organization that created the Fellowship Program, selected Bermuda for this year's Summit due to the nation's exceptional progress in clean transportation and power, as showcased through the electric public buses project, the airport solar array, the utilities' battery energy storage system and commitment to procuring solar on over 30 government buildings.
Charlin Bodley, Manager, Energy Transition Academy of RMI, said, "The hosting of the Energy Transition Academy Fellowship Summit showcases the nation's commitment to collaborating and supporting the Region in building the skills to meet its collective energy resilience and climate goals".
Hon. Minister Roban closed his remarks by thanking RMI for over five years of deep partnership and collaboration, supporting Bermuda in being one of the pioneers for clean energy in the Region.