In July 2025, Brechin Castle Solar Limited reported that their solar farm had transmitted electrons to Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission’s (T&TEC) nearby sub-station. This marked the first time that solar energy had been supplied to the National Energy Grid of Trinidad and Tobago.
Once fully commissioned, it is estimated the solar farm will contribute 92 megawatts of power to the national electricity grid, approximately 8 percent of Trinidad and Tobago’s power generation.
As T&T works towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions, a target of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, it is expected that there will be an uptick in solar and other forms of green energy.
At UWI St Augustine Dr Randy Ramadhar Singh, a researcher from the Department of Physics, has done crucial work relating to T&T’s renewable energy thrust. His timely research examines how the production of solar energy can reduce the country’s carbon emissions and divert gas from electricity production to exports.
“What I did was look at what the results would be if we model certain scenarios of renewables within the national grid,” he explained.
“For example, what will it mean for our grid if there is a solar farm generating 100 megawatts of solar or a wind farm generating 200 megawatts? What will it mean for the national grid if both wind and solar farms are generating that amount of energy at the same time?
“I am looking at how much gas we would save, what we can get paid if we sold the gas we saved, and what those renewable energy farms will mean for carbon dioxide emission.”
One of the most feasible renewable energy models he ran was a “blended scenario” where a mix of wind and solar energy will be used in Trinidad and Tobago, specifically 400 megawatts of solar using photovoltaic (PV) systems and 200 megawatts of wind.
For this research, he used EnergyPLAN, a model developed by the Sustainable Energy Planning Research group at Aalborg University in Denmark. EnergyPLAN, analyses the energy, environmental, and economic impact of energy strategies by allowing users to simulate the operation of national energy systems.
UWI Today spoke to Dr Xsitaaz Chadee, who said Dr Ramadhar Singh’s findings are critical, as they provide insight on how much utility-scale PV and wind the country can realistically transition to and operate on in the near term.
A physics department lecturer in renewable energy and environmental physics, Dr Chadee served as one of Dr Ramadhar Singh’s PhD supervisors.
“He identified that a phased transition over time will be a more feasible transition for the country in both the technical aspect of integrating renewables into the grids and the cost of the transition,” she said.
“At this stage, 400 megawatts from solar PV and 200 megawatts from wind is an optimal amount of renewable energy for the country to produce. If you go beyond that amount of solar PV, then you’re going to get critical excess of energy being produced on your electricity grid.”
Critical excess of energy means more electricity is being produced than can be used domestically or for export. This can lead to fluctuations in energy and inefficiencies in energy management.
Dr Chadee added, “So, his work had some very key results that have implications for how Trinidad and Tobago should go about developing its renewable energy sector and energy grids.”
His research work is so relevant in fact that it was published in The Energy Journal, the official publication of the International Association for Energy Economics.
In 2024, Dr Ramadhar Singh was part of the Faculty of Science and Technology’s Sustainable Futures Group, which won the award for Best Team Research at the 2024 Campus Principal’s Research Awards and Conference. “When we say sustainable futures, we mean we are addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said Dr Ricardo Clarke, lecturer in the Department of Physics. “Dr Ramadhar Singh’s focus is on energy and energy security (SDG Goals 7 and 13).”
But while his work is promising and the country is making steps towards transitioning to renewables, Dr Ramadhar Singh believes there is more work to be done.
“While we have the technical results that Trinidad and Tobago can benefit in some ways from renewables, there needs to be a systematic approach that enables that transition. You need to ensure there is distributional justice where full analyses are done to understand the benefits and burdens of wind and solar farms to nearby communities.
“A robust energy transition would also involve outreach to people in these communities to discuss the benefits and need for such actions.”
He added, “You also have to recognise that people in certain categories, especially the vulnerable and low-income citizens, may take on more burdens during an energy transition than the average citizen.” For a feasible transition to renewables, Dr Ramadhar Singh said, the country must have a Just Transition Policy.
A recipient of a Salzburg Global Fellowship, Dr Ramadhar Singh was tasked with creating a report with recommendations for a proposed Just Energy Transition Policy for Trinidad and Tobago.
To complete the report, he teamed up with Dr Clarke and Dr Chadee.
For six months, the trio conducted consultations and research with stakeholders throughout the country, including T&TEC, the World Bank, the European Union, and the Ministries of Planning, Labour, and Energy. In September 2024, Dr Ramadhar Singh travelled to Austria for the Salzburg Global Seminar to participate in discussions with other Salzburg Fellows from around the world.
The draft of the Just Transition Policy was published in December 2024 with recommendations to ensure that communities are empowered to participate in the process and the rights of workers in the energy sector are protected.
This past August, Dr Randy Ramadhar Singh was selected as a Lead Author (LA) for the 7th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with responsibility for the chapter on “Energy Systems”.
