A DECADE AGO, when we first started holding a separate event to look at renewable energy and energy efficiency issues in Trinidad and Tobago, we got very limited participation. Back then we had the event on the third day of the annual T&T Energy Conference and if we got fifty people registering, we thought we had done well.
As interest grew in the subject, we switched to a stand-alone event in the middle of the year, first at the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business auditorium and then, when we outgrew that venue, we switched to the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre. At that time, a lot of what we were doing was promoting interest in the topic and raising awareness. Discussions tended to focus on overarching policy issues and why it made sense to invest in renewable energy and in energy efficiency in a hydrocarbon-dominated economy.
In 2020, the Sustainable Energy-focused Conference was the first major event that we did as a fully virtual event, in response to the pandemic, and we executed it that same way again in 2021. These were both very successful events, with wider participation from around the region and the world, and there was a clear sense that the basic policy argument around the need for investment in renewables and energy efficiency had been won. The focus was now on the “how” rather than the “why”.
In 2022, we switched things around with our Sustainable Energy Conference taking place as a virtual event in January and the main traditional T&T Energy Conference taking place as an in-person event in June (to take advantage of the loosening COVID-19 restrictions). The virtual format for the Sustainability-focused Conference meant that we had more regional participation and we have now reflected that in the conference title, now renamed the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference.
This year, with the global health crisis behind us, we went back to the traditional format. We had a hugely successful in-person T&T Energy Conference that took place at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad in January and the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference which took place in early June 2023, at the same venue.
Over the past three years the discussions at the traditional T&T Energy Conference have had a clear focus on energy transition, as major energy companies have made commitments to net-zero. We therefore refocused the agenda at the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference more on the specifics of project delivery and on technology implementation, to complement the broad strategic policy discussions at the T&T Energy Conference. We wanted the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference to be hands-on and practical, and to help our members identify specific opportunities for their businesses. This is why we have chose the theme “From Ideas to Action”.
While the scope of the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference is regional, the fact that it is based in Trinidad and Tobago—a major global petrochemical hub and important LNG exporter— means that our focus is broader than the electricity sector that tends to dominate the discussions in other Caribbean energy events. Our conference also looks at decarbonising petrochemicals, carbon capture and sequestration, and alternative lower carbon fuels, in addition to panels on the electricity grid and renewable energy.
There has been a tendency in some discussions around energy transition and climate change to see fossil fuels as “the enemy” and renewable energy as “the saviour” (though the world seems to have retreated a little from this position with the concerns about energy security following the Russian invasion of Ukraine). The reality is, however, that fossil fuels and in particular natural gas, are likely to play an important role in global energy systems and chemical production for many decades to come.
The focus needs to be on reducing the carbon footprint of energy systems and this is the focus of our conference. The major oil and gas companies—now repositioning themselves as integrated energy companies—and the petrochemical producers have a huge role to play in delivering this future, so it was great to see their sponsorship of the conference along with our major state-owned energy companies. It was also a pleasure to see our major indigenous bank and the local and international service industries present in the region, stepping up to share their knowledge and expertise.
We have come a long way in the past decade, but the emphasis now must be on urgent implementation. While it is good to look back and see the progress we have made, the reality is that we need to move a lot faster now and into the future. We are moving from ideas to action, but we need to accelerate.