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AUTHORITIES IN ST. KITTS LOOK TO IMPLEMENT ADDITIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES
Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 13, 2018 (SKNIS): St. Kitts’ vision is to become the smallest green nation in the Western Hemisphere – with a sustainable energy sector, where reliable, renewable, clean and affordable energy services are provided to all of its citizens. Against this backdrop, energy stakeholders are well on their way to roll out a number of additional energy efficiency initiatives.
One of the more dynamic of such initiatives is that of geothermal.
“The biggest project we are working on is geothermal. We have entered into an agreement with a French company and they have done some surface survey in the area from Lamberts down to Kittitian Hill and they have identified geothermal and they said it could be as high as 36 megawatts of electricity so we are now negotiating an agreement with them for them to develop it,” said Bertill Browne, Director of the Energy Unit, adding that at present St. Kitts consumes 27 megawatts of electricity.
He added that the Energy Unit is presently working with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to commission an environmental study to see how the dwelling of geothermal would affect the community and the environment around the area.
Also important is the idea of wind energy, which is also being considered, as well as additional solar plants.
“We are negotiating a wind project and if it is successful it will be in the Belle Vue area,” he said. “We are also looking into a number of solar projects.”
Mr. Browne spoke briefly on the street lighting project which is currently ongoing in St. Kitts. This energy efficiency project will see all street lights in St. Kitts being replaced with Light-emitting diode (LED) lights in 2019.
To date, a number of energy efficiency projects are already contributing to the clean energy agenda promoted by Government. These include the solar farm at the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport; the solar farm at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), as well as the use of solar panels by businesses and homeowners.
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