For the island of Nevis, the principal renewable energy focus is, for now, on geothermal energy:

In pursuit of its sustainable energy programme, the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) will not actively pursue other areas of renewable energy but will to concentrate its efforts in geothermal energy.

Mark Brantley, premier of Nevis and minister of energy, said at his fifth monthly press conference on June 25, 2018, that Nevis Renewable Energy International Inc. (NREI), the geothermal developers contracted by the NIA to develop the resource, would be able to satisfy the island’s energy needs.

“Nevis is small and the demand for energy is finite at this point. We vary between 6 and 9 megawatts – 6 at base and 9 at peak. So [NREI] has said to us they can provide us with 9 to 10 megawatts at the first go…

“Every provider requires the Nevis Electricity Company Limited (NEVLEC) to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)…The problem that we have tried to avoid is NEVLEC being committed contractually to pay for 14 or 15 megawatts of power when we could only sell 6 to 9 megawatts…

“Currently geothermal alone will provide 100 percent of our base load and so, it makes no sense for us to commit ourselves to pay for power that we will have and cannot sell. So that is the real thinking behind the approach that we have taken,” he said.

…

The first PPA signed for renewable energy on Nevis was with WindWatt (Nevis) Ltd in 2010 for the provision of wind-generated energy at its wind farm at Maddens. The farm was officially connected to the NEVLEC grid in July of the same year.

In the area of solar energy, the NIA has not entered any contractual agreements. However, it has encouraged business places and private homes to install solar panels, a challenge which has been embraced by at least one major business place on the island.

For more information, see the complete article at Caribbean News Now.

Previously on Green Antilles: Geothermal energy “holds real promise” for the Eastern Caribbean.

[Image: Lauren Delizia]