Power plant for Tobago

The decision by Government to build a power plant in Tobago to effectively take care of the country’s electricity needs is a recognition that for Tobago to develop rapidly, it needs to break away from its present dependence on an electricity supply from Trinidad.

The discovery of substantial reserves of natural gas and crude off Tobago, along with the plan to construct related plants there, will provide the long needed stimulus to the island’s industrial growth. Clearly, it will lead to an increased electricity demand. The construction and operation of the plants will encourage spin-off industries, and already, looking forward to the future, an area has been set aside for an industrial estate. This will mean avenues will be created for light industries as well, and in the urban centres an increased number of haberdasheries, hardware stores and supermarkets, many of them air conditioned. In turn, the better paying jobs in construction and maintenance will trigger a demand for middle income housing, and a consequent sharp rise in electricity demand through the increased use of electrical appliances. And while, admittedly, many areas overseas which employ a greater use of electricity than that of Trinidad and Tobago, are connected to foreign grids, it would be better, given not only the recent power failure in large areas of North America, but power failures in Trinidad as well, for Tobago to have its own power plant capable of servicing the island’s needs.

This does not mean that Tobago need completely sever its electricity connection with Trinidad, but this link could be held in reserve to be triggered in the event of a partial or major interruption in the electricity supply at the Tobago station. The reverse could also apply.
Meanwhile, the expected expansion of industrial growth in Trinidad over the next five to ten years will dictate greater demands on Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission’s grid. This has to be viewed realistically. And while we do not expect that the authorities will wait for this to happen before acting, it would have been shortsighted to continue to see Tobago, tied indefinitely, to the TTEC’s grid, as part of the Electricity Commission’s equation. Minister of Energy, Eric Williams, emphasised in an address last week to the South Chamber of Industry and Commerce  that plans for Tobago’s power plant had to be implemented, because of the “projected shortfall in electricity in the future.” It was perhaps the understatement of the year, but a truth nonetheless.