The government of St. Kitts and Nevis expect substantial job creation to result from a $610 million investment into geothermal and wind energy. Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Timothy Harris, said in a budget presentation:
“We must see this alternative energy, this new industry, as providing new opportunities for employment, for new skills to be developed, particularly sophisticated skills in engineering, in water management etc, which our country needs.”
The project, which expects to be operational in 202, is aligned with the government’s Fresh Start mandate and highlights an urgent need to reduce the cost of petroleum imports to the Country. The Prime Minister told the House that his government has agreed to the exploration of wind energy in the Federation, as they are about to finalize an agreement with North Star, Caribbean developers pursuing renewable energy projects. A $16.5m commitment from the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has been secured to fund construction of the first phase of a 5.4MW wind farm in Belle Vue, St Kitts and a Memorandum of Understanding with Teranov for the development of a geothermal project is also in St. Kitts – it is not expected to compete with the ongoing developments of the resource on the sister island of Nevis. PM Harris explained that the project will be carried out in phases and completed over a five year span, beginning with exploration in the Sandy Point Area. A commercial size demonstration well will be launched in 2017, Dr. Harris said, with the final phase being the construction of a Power plant in 2018.
