PRESIDENT JENNIFER GEERLINGS-Simons rightly emphasized at the United Nations that Suriname must use its natural resources strategically for sustainable development. She also mentioned the energy supply. Gas to shore, gas to energy and renewable energy should ultimately contribute to a better national energy mix. That sounds ambitious, but the reality that citizens and companies face today is considerably less rosy.
Suriname is again faced with loadshedding. The Energy Companies Suriname (EBS) has itself indicated that electricity consumption has increased more than expected and that no reserve power is available. As a result, parts of the Epar network must be switched off alternately for at least three hours. The consequences of this are now felt everywhere. Entrepreneurs see production processes disrupted, shops and offices have to improvise and households have to adapt their daily activities to the availability of electricity. Monday was possible the True Time newspaper did not appear because the electricity went out on Sunday evening.
A good energy supply does not happen automatically. It requires looking ahead for years, investing and anticipating economic growth, climate developments and rising electricity demand
Even government services are affected. The Kwatta Civil Affairs Bureau had to temporarily suspend its services this week due to a power outage. The drinking water supply can also be compromised: the Suriname Water Supply Company has asked EBS to keep water production stations outside the loadshedding as much as possible, because not all locations have emergency generators.
This underlines how fundamental electricity is for a modern society. Energy supply is not a sector that can be viewed in isolation. Without a reliable power supply, companies function less efficiently, government services come under pressure and essential facilities become vulnerable.
The current problems partly have a concrete technical cause. Due to delays in the modernization of a turbine in Afobaka, approximately thirty megawatts less power is temporarily available. At the same time, it is clear that the system has insufficient reserves to absorb such setbacks without any problems. Therein lies the policy lesson.
A good energy supply does not happen automatically. It requires looking ahead for years, investing and anticipating economic growth, climate developments and rising electricity demand. A country cannot wait until the shortage presents itself and then take emergency measures.
That is why the energy transition that the president is talking about internationally must be translated into a coherent and implementable energy policy at home. Gas can play a role in this, as can hydropower, solar energy and other renewable sources. But plans must be accompanied by concrete investments in generation, transmission, distribution and sufficient reserve capacity.
Suriname has oil, gas, hydropower and plenty of sun. The fact that a country with so much energy potential must periodically leave its citizens and companies without electricity should not become a normal situation. The solution starts with sound policy: looking ahead, investing and implementing before the lights go out.
