A green and smart port in Trinidad

Trinidad and Tobago

Wendy Seow, general manager of the La Brea Industrial Development Company (LABIDCO), talks to The Energy Year about how the company is boosting sustainability and expanding activities and its initiatives to contribute to Trinidad and Tobago's decarbonisation efforts. A subsidiary of NGC, LABIDCO is responsible for developing industrial activity on the La Brea Industrial Estate and the Port of Brighton.

What was the core focus of activity for LABIDCO over the last two years?
Our focus for the last couple of years has been to build our foundation for better sustainability of the company. Years prior, LABIDCO shared some of our human resources with National Energy, so we have focused on hiring our own workers with the right competencies and skills. We’ve started hiring people on a phased basis as we ramp up our activities.
We also worked on our governance structure within the company, ensuring that even our relationships with NGC and National Energy are properly formalised. Our operating model comprises our core team in addition to master services agreements across the NGC group for different services.
In September 2020, there was an expansion of port operations at La Brea, whereby the load-out of methanol was launched, with the first shipment taking place. In order for us to facilitate that first shipment, a lot of planning, co-ordination, new equipment and new systems had to be put in place.
Even during the pandemic lockdowns, we continued with our 24-hour port operation, and we saw some new types of businesses coming through the port. For example, there was one particular operation that took place involving some huge chains that were brought here in support of an operation. They had to come to La Brea to be worked on at TOFCO [Trinidad Offshore Fabricators] and then shipped back out.
The port is supported by the La Brea Industrial Estate, which is 407 acres [1.65 square kilometres]. At this point in time, there are about 36 tenants and 27 vacant lots. We just did an exercise that we referred to as “re-lotification,” where we revised some of the lots and their sizes and updated our files to reflect the available acreage.
One of the areas demarcated during the exercise was a “green zone.” In that particular zone, we’ll be attracting small to medium-sized enterprises who are interested in recycling and renewable energy projects.

How has activity in frontier markets such as Guyana and Suriname impacted business for LABIDCO?
In 2021, we were contacted by a company involved in trans-shipping bauxite out of Guyana to Trinidad. The operation entailed incoming bauxite-utilising barges or small vessels, stockpiling of the product and reshipment of goods through the Port of Brighton. About 27,500 tonnes were shipped out to the far east. The Port of Brighton is well equipped with warehouse capacity of approximately 10,000 square metres to facilitate these types of operations.
It is one of LABIDCO’s goals that the port becomes a trans-shipment hub. We are well positioned strategically for it – not only for Guyana, but for Suriname as well. Neither of those countries presently has a deepwater harbour.
Over the past couple of years, we have been supporting Guyana’s energy sector as well by providing trans-shipment of jumpers. These are very large pieces of equipment that do not go directly to Guyana. They come to La Brea from locations abroad – for example, Houston – then they undergo some welding and fabrication before they are shipped to Guyana for companies such as Saipem. We have seen keen interest with respect to trans-shipment services.

How is the company positioning itself to contribute to national decarbonisation efforts?
During our re-lotification exercise we found that there is land on the estate which can’t be used for industry at all because of the nature and topography of the area. We have identified those spaces and in 2023, we will start carbon sequestration within the estate.
We have received the reports identifying the type of soil and trees best suited for the area. It is just over 1 hectare [10,000 square metres], and we are doing preparation work to procure the trees. Local farmers from the neighbouring community will then be employed to plant them, as well as to nurture and maintain them. There is a bigger picture for LABIDCO: our strategic intent is to create a green and smart port and estate in parallel to the industrial one, creating a circular economy on the estate itself.
There are different types of waste being generated on the estate. In this regard, analysis will be done to determine which types of waste we should be focusing on. There are three waste disposal companies on the estate, and we want to optimise the use of those companies in getting a circular economy going. We will collect and recycle waste to bring revenue back to the system. We will be partnering with UTT [The University of Trinidad and Tobago] to conduct a carbon inventory at the Port of Brighton. Once we have gathered the information, we will develop the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, we have started installing solar-powered lights on the port and are in the final stages of putting an additional 80 solar installations on the estate, bringing the total number to 100.

Are there any new technologies that have helped to evolve the company’s business?
Moving towards new technology and being innovative, we’ve invested in a MetOcean Buoy, which can measure and monitor real-time harbour conditions, including tidal wave activity. This information is extremely useful to our port users and other key stakeholders who utilise the port. In addition, we use bow tie analysis and Power BI reporting.

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