00:00The U.S. Embassy in Port of Spain's economic officer Jeff Cernia tells TV6 News some great American companies are
00:07coming to Trinidad and Tobago as he spoke about the three MOUs signed by Trinidad and Tobago and the United
00:12States meant to reopen the iron and steel plant in Point Lisas, establish a 300-megawatt data center and a
00:20150-megawatt data center.
00:24Certainly, the backbone of the economy here continues to be oil and gas, right? But we really are excited that
00:31getting the steel mill up and running, for example, takes that natural gas, takes that electricity that's derived from natural
00:39gas and creates an exportable commodity.
00:41And going back to the data centers, this is the new economy. This is the knowledge economy. What an exciting
00:47thing for Trinidad and Tobago to be having a front row seat in a new evolution of the economy that's
00:56going to be shaping the world.
00:57We sought for the details.
00:59How would you respond to any concerns about when you have deals of this magnitude, there are government-to-government
01:07elements, and then, of course, there's the private sector element.
01:10But how much does Trinidad and Tobago have to give in order to get the benefits you are talking about?
01:16Hmm. Hmm. Well, this is, it's a commercial arrangement, right? And so companies are coming here to take what is
01:26strong and good about Trinidad and Tobago and what it has to offer and to create a product that's very
01:32marketable the world round, right?
01:35And so what do we have to give? I think the talent, the brains, the hard work in hands of
01:42Trinbagonians, that's what we need to make these succeed.
01:46He said he thinks, quote, this is just a deal that makes a lot of sense, end quote.
01:52And I'm not in the negotiation about the land, but whether it's at the Point Leases Industrial Estate or down
01:57further south, there needs to be a piece of land to build this on.
02:00In the case of the steel mill, it's already there, right? So you need the steel mill to become operational
02:06again, the port facility adjacent to the steel mill to be operational.
02:11So those investors have already looked at this. So what do they need to give? Not a lot, because these
02:17companies are prepared to pay normal market rates for electricity, for water, for their utilities.
02:23They're not asking for any special carve-outs there.
02:26Regarding concerns about electricity supply, the U.S. Embassy's Economic Officer said this is a great story that Trinidad and
02:33Tobago has to tell.
02:34About a quarter of the electrical grid here in Trinidad and Tobago is not being utilized today.
02:42So there's room for that, for these facilities to plug into existing infrastructure for electricity.
02:50Back to the data centers, there are several ways of cooling these plants. You don't have to merely evaporate water
02:56to cool them.
02:56There are closed-loop cycles in which the fresh water that cools is in a closed system, and it is
03:03further cooled by a secondary loop of, it could be seawater or some other kind of cooling mechanism.
03:09So you can reduce the usage of water through existing technologies.
03:12In reference to the desalination plant in Point Lisas, the U.S. Embassy official said Trinidad and Tobago has what
03:19he called a real advantage.
03:21There are a lot of places in the world that don't know how to do that, and you do it
03:24every single day.
03:25And so if more capacity is needed, more desal plants could be set up. So I think that is a
03:32very solvable problem.
03:33He said this is the next chapter in the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S.
03:38Is there a timeline for, let's say, from start, a construction phase, whatnot, a completion? Is there a timeline right
03:45now?
03:45Well, the companies have shared a bit of a notional timeline with me.
03:49Now, let's be clear. These are memoranda of understanding, and they need to be followed by actual contracts, right?
03:54So let's get that done as quickly and transparently as we can.
03:59So I'm not going to put a timeline on that, but let's get that done in the next couple months,
04:05Joel, right?
04:05Let's get that done, and then the steel mill can be refurbished probably in about a year's time.
04:11An AI data center, when you have electricity already, like Trinidad and Tobago does have, that can be done in
04:18about 18 to 24 months.
04:19The U.S. Embassy's economic officer said there are to be a total of 5,000 jobs.
04:25Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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