WILLEMSTAD - On June 24, 2021, the solar panel system on the roof of the VSBO school SKAIH in Emmastad was officially connected. Ms. Martinus – Guda, secretary of the school board of SKAIH, Fundashon Pa Skol Humanista na Papiamentu, proudly says: 'From now on, our students and teachers can enjoy sustainable energy at our school. From the beginning of SKAIH, it has been our dream to use renewable energy. We are very happy that we have succeeded in realizing this.”
270 solar panels have been installed on the roof of the VSBO school. This saves the school 81,063 kg of CO2 emissions per year. To give an idea of what this means: if you want to compensate so much CO2, you have to plant 3,497 trees. By using the solar panels, the school makes an important contribution to more sustainable solutions.
In the coming period, students and teachers will be informed about the importance of sustainable energy through an awareness-raising program. Erwin Kranenburg, director of the VSBO school SKAIH, says enthusiastically: 'The students are our future. That's why it's so important to involve them in why we're doing this. Moreover, we hope to enthuse various students to delve into the possibilities of sustainable energy. There are great opportunities for their career here!'
The sustainability of SKAIH has been realized in collaboration with Korpodeko and Slim Opgewekt Caribbean. By opting for this collaboration, sustainability for SKAIH provides lower monthly costs and therefore direct financial benefits. The joint ambition of the parties is to achieve as much sustainable impact as possible with a financially advantageous exploitation as preconditions; especially in social organizations such as schools and healthcare institutions. The realization of the solar panel system at SKAIH is the first project of Slim Opgewekt Caribbean in Curaçao. Both parties hope that more projects in Curaçao will follow soon.
Slim Opgewekt Caribbean is a subsidiary of Slim Opgewekt, a company that has been making social organizations in the Netherlands more sustainable since 2012. Slim Opgewekt has now made more than 140 schools more sustainable and has reached more than 40,000 students. This saved 6,388,500 kWh of gray electricity. It would take 178,880 trees to convert this amount of CO2. In addition to schools, Slim Opgewekt also makes healthcare institutions and sports complexes more sustainable.