Across the Caribbean, island nations are facing growing pressure to modernize their energy systems in the face of climate change, rising electricity costs, and aging grid infrastructure. For many, the stakes are not just about sustainability—it’s about securing a more resilient, affordable, and reliable energy future.
The region’s reliance on imported fossil fuels leaves it vulnerable to global price shocks and supply disruptions. Electricity rates in many islands remain among the highest in the world, often exceeding $0.25 to $0.40 per kilowatt-hour due to the cost of diesel and heavy fuel oil generation. At the same time, increasingly severe hurricanes are threatening power reliability across the region, highlighting the need for more resilient, decentralized infrastructure.
In this context, microgrids, or localized, self-sufficient energy systems powered by renewables and storage, are quickly emerging as an essential solution.
The Case for Microgrids
Microgrids can operate independently from the main grid during emergencies, helping communities maintain power during outages caused by natural disasters. They can also reduce fuel imports, lower emissions, and deliver more stable and affordable electricity. For remote and smaller islands where traditional grid expansion is costly and impractical, microgrids represent a faster, more adaptable path to energy independence.
Recent developments highlight their growing importance. In Puerto Rico, a cooperative-run microgrid in Adjuntas powers 14 local businesses through outages. In the Bahamas, Ragged Island now operates a solar-storage microgrid built to withstand Category 5 hurricanes. And in St. Kitts, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank installed a solar-plus-storage microgrid that cut its emissions by 90 percent and paid for itself in just six years.
Still, across much of the Caribbean, large-scale deployment remains slow. Challenges include limited access to technical expertise, financing, and the planning tools required to design systems that balance cost, reliability, and emissions.
That’s where Acelerex is helping to close the gap.
Acelerex in Barbados: A Model for Regional Transformation
Acelerex has been actively working with government and institutional stakeholders in Barbados, a country aiming to achieve 100 percent renewable electricity and carbon neutrality by 2030. With widespread rooftop solar adoption and an ambitious clean energy agenda, Barbados is uniquely positioned to become a regional model for microgrid deployment and distributed storage integration.
In partnership with the World Bank, Acelerex led an energy storage workshop that helped shape regulatory strategies and technical planning for future battery deployments across the island. As Barbados launched its first battery storage auction in late 2024, Acelerex’s prior work helped inform both market frameworks and stakeholder engagement strategies.
Through advanced modeling and simulation, Acelerex has shown that the island could achieve 80 to 100 percent renewable electricity using a combination of solar, battery storage, and intelligent grid controls, all at competitive long-term costs. These insights are critical for government planners, utilities, and investors evaluating large-scale microgrid deployments.
Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and Bi-Lateral Trading: Expanding the Vision
Beyond islanded microgrids, the next step in regional energy innovation is the deployment of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). Digital platforms that aggregate distributed energy resources like solar, batteries, and flexible loads into a single, dispatchable entity. VPPs enhance grid resilience and market participation by enabling coordinated control and real-time optimization of resources across multiple sites.
In the Caribbean context, VPPs can help small island utilities manage growing shares of renewables, increase system flexibility, and reduce curtailment. By leveraging cloud-based EMS platforms and real-time analytics, Acelerex supports VPP design and operation, enabling smarter control of distributed assets.
Additionally, models emerging from Colombia’s evolving power market may offer a useful precedent. Colombia is actively exploring decentralized, bi-lateral trading mechanisms that allow generators and consumers to transact energy directly—outside of centralized wholesale markets. These mechanisms, enabled by advanced digital infrastructure and regulatory innovation, are helping to drive competition, price transparency, and private investment.
For Caribbean nations seeking to diversify their energy markets and unlock private sector participation, adopting bi-lateral trading models—especially in conjunction with VPPs—could offer new paths for modernization, resilience, and economic growth.
Regional Momentum and Pressing Needs
Caribbean nations are increasingly setting ambitious renewable energy targets, with many aiming for 30 to 100 percent renewables by 2030–2040. But even as total renewable generation in the region doubled between 2014 and 2022; from roughly 3.5 to 7.6 gigawatts—many systems remain vulnerable to outages, diesel dependency, and climate-driven disruptions.
The region’s vulnerability was made painfully clear during hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Fiona, which left entire islands without power for days or weeks. Microgrids, designed with storage and islanding capability, could ensure that schools, hospitals, and emergency shelters maintain operations during such crises.
A Duke University and Rocky Mountain Institute study identified over 30 critical facilities in Barbados alone that would benefit from microgrid deployment to improve reliability and storm resilience. Other countries such as Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Dominica are conducting similar resilience assessments as they seek to modernize their grids.
The urgency is also financial. Many utilities face budget constraints, aging infrastructure, and rising costs, while customers struggle with volatile electricity bills. Solar and battery-powered microgrids can stabilize rates while reducing operating risks. In many locations, hybrid renewable microgrids are already cheaper than diesel generation—even before factoring in resilience benefits.
How Acelerex Supports Microgrid Expansion
Acelerex provides a suite of software and technical solutions that help governments, utilities, and developers design, simulate, and operate modern microgrids. These tools include:
- Grid Analytics Software for modeling power flow, production cost, capacity expansion, and long-term investment viability
- Real-Time EMS and SCADA Systems to control distributed energy resources, enable grid flexibility, and maintain operations during outages
- Revenue Forecasting and Market Intelligence to help developers and utilities quantify the value of storage, solar, and hybrid assets over time
- Resilience Modeling to simulate storm scenarios, assess backup power capabilities, and strengthen the business case for microgrid investments
- Market Simulation Tools to test potential for bi-lateral trading and localized market mechanisms
Acelerex also plays a critical role in training local teams and strengthening institutional capacity through workshops, stakeholder collaboration, and technical support. By building expertise across the Caribbean, Acelerex helps ensure that projects are not only technically sound but also locally sustainable.
Looking Ahead
The Caribbean is at an inflection point. Faced with rising climate risks, economic pressures, and ambitious clean energy targets, governments and utilities must accelerate the adoption of decentralized, resilient energy systems.
Microgrids are not just a promising idea; they represent a necessary evolution. With the right tools, partners, and planning, they can deliver cleaner, more reliable power to millions of people across the region.
Acelerex is proud to be supporting this transformation, starting with Barbados and expanding outward. As energy innovation accelerates, we remain committed to delivering the analytics, automation, and insight needed to power the Caribbean’s future.
Interested in learning how Acelerex can support your microgrid project?
Reach out to our team or follow us on LinkedIn to stay connected with our work across the Caribbean and beyond.
Sources:
https://time.com/6264631/puerto-rico-adjuntas-solar-microgrid/
https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/items/41bb4278-902d-42ff-9e40-6a13fa5b8ce6
https://grist.org/solutions/puerto-rico-town-celebrates-first-of-its-kind-solar-microgrid/