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By Kevon Browne
Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is progressing with hurricane activity expected to intensify and hot weather to continue until October, affecting the commonwealth’s electricity supply.
The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis recently spoke about the challenges facing the country’s energy sector as rising temperatures lead to a surge in the use of cooling equipment and increased electricity demand.
“We have a lot of pressure on our power plants. I would say we haven’t had any major investment in our power plants. This is one of them.
The second thing is climate change; the impact of higher temperatures on power plants is one thing. The second thing is that we are now seeing much higher temperatures in May than we expected. People are using more air conditioning and refrigeration.
That puts a huge strain on power plants. It’s also a direct result of climate change. So these are all things we talk about as adaptation.”
The Prime Minister made the remarks while speaking to journalists at the recent Investor Summit in St. Kitts.
The League relies heavily on fossil fuels for electricity generation, which increases its carbon footprint. The League is working to transition to renewable energy sources, including solar farms and a geothermal project in Nevis. However, until these projects are fully operational, the League will continue to rely on fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.
“So now we have to go and buy two new generators, which cost us $40 million from the Saudi fund. So we are purchasing them. This will generate about 80 megawatts of energy. These generators should last 20 years. So it’s a major investment. We will also invest this summer in … renting generators so that we can meet the demand.”
He continued: “We expected demand in August and September, but it came much earlier. That’s why we are affected again: because climate change is so unpredictable at this time. No one expected a heat wave in May, and we did have a heat wave in May. So we have already started to purchase the new generators that I mentioned earlier. They should arrive in a year or a year and a half. So once we get those generators, they will solve our problem. But we will probably produce 20 to 30 megawatts of electricity. With 18 megawatts, it means that now we only need 10 megawatts, while we used to need 30 megawatts. This will make our situation much better.”
The new generators are expected to be operational within a year and are expected to relieve some of the pressure on the grid. Currently, the plant produces about 30 megawatts of electricity, which will be greatly improved by the new generators.
Looking ahead, the alliance is seeking investments in renewable energy. The government is preparing a request for proposals (RFP) for more solar projects and encouraging local businesses to participate in this transition.
“We are promoting renewable energy investment and now we are preparing more RFPs for solar. We are calling on local investors to get involved and calling on the business community to participate in renewable energy investment. We want to get as much return as possible.”
Nevis’ geothermal project has also made progress. Recently, the government brought in Siemens, a major international engineering company, and Abu Dhabi investment company K&K to advance the project. After receiving a $17 million grant loan and an additional $20 million in funding to drill the first well, the geothermal program is moving forward rapidly.
“So geothermal energy will continue to develop. So the faster we develop renewable energy, the sooner we can achieve sustainable development as an island nation. It’s very good. Investment summits like this can help people invest in the right areas where they want to invest.”
Despite the challenges posed by ongoing heatwaves and an active hurricane season, St. Kitts and Nevis remains committed to combating climate change and transitioning to greener energy solutions.
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