Rubis SCA, a French fuels distributor, is buying a 51 percent share in a solar-plus-green hydrogen-and-battery project in Barbados being constructed by hydrogen energy expert Hydrogene de France SA.
The projected Renewstable Barbados (RSB) complex is billed as the Caribbean’s largest hydrogen power plant, with 50 MW of solar PV generating and 128 MWh of green hydrogen and battery storage. Prior to construction, HDF says it is in negotiations with the Barbados Sustainable Energy Co-operative Society to offer it a 30 percent ownership in the project.
The US$100 million (EUR 88.2 million) project will be built at St Philip, Barbados’ easternmost town. According to HDF, the solar farm section will also function as an agrivoltaic facility since it will enable sheep husbandry.
According to the French developer, the RSB plant will generate enough electricity for 16,000 Barbadians and will assist the island nation in replacing some of its old and expensive fossil-fuel-based energy assets.
The Barbados project will employ the same formula as HDF’s first Renewable power plant in French Guiana, which will generate energy via a solar farm as well as hydrogen and battery storage once construction is completed. Rubis, together with HDF and infrastructure fund Meridiam, is an equity stakeholder in the Guiana project.
Rubis is the company’s second-largest stakeholder, with an 18.5 percent interest.
