The government of Antigua and Barbuda has signed a contract with Caymanian company GreenTech Solar for the installation of renewable energy systems that will provide about 10% of the country’s energy needs:

A Cayman Islands solar company has signed a US$20 million deal to bring renewable energy to a small Caribbean island. The catch is, it’s not Grand Cayman.

GreenTech Solar has won a contract to provide 10 megawatts of renewable power to Antigua and Barbuda by retroactively fitting government buildings, hospitals, schools and car parks with wind and solar installations. The deal represents around 10 percent of the island’s energy needs.

Company owner James Whittaker signed a deal with the island nation’s government on Tuesday.

GreenTech Solar won the contract, the largest renewable energy deal in Antigua and Barbuda’s history, after a competitive bid process.

Mr. Whittaker said his business had identified 30 sites in the country that could be adapted to add solar, wind and energy storage systems.

The renewable installations will provide power directly to the buildings they adorn, rather than selling energy back to the grid.

“The buildings themselves are going to use the renewable energy they create,” Mr. Whittaker said.

For some buildings, he said, renewable energy could meet almost all of their power needs. For others, such as hospitals or clinics with higher energy use, solar installations might power only 20 percent of the building.

He said the multi-year deal was with the country’s government, which also runs the island’s power company.

Mr. Whittaker said his company was in talks with two other islands about similar projects.

He said the deal showed that the goal set out in the National Energy Policy of making Cayman a regional center of excellence in renewable power was realistic.

But he said the sector needed more government support.

Read more in the full report from the Cayman Compass.

[Image: Emily]