Caribbean Development Bank: Geothermal key to cheaper electricity in the region
Discussions on the Caribbean geothermal opportunity at the GEOLAC event in November 2015 in Nicaragua (source: NewEnergy events)
Alexander Richter
21 Jan 2016
The President of the Caribbean Development Bank sees geothermal as a key source of energy to make electricity cheaper in the Caribbean.
In a recent interview with Virgin Islands Free Press, Warren Smith, the newly re-elected president of the Caribbean Development Bank, talks about why he believes that “geothermal is the key to cheaper electricity” in the Caribbean.
With the size and location of the Caribbean islands, they have for a long long time depended on oil for power generation. With the fluctuation of the oil price this has created challenges and essentially made electricity three to four times more expensive than e.g. in the United States.
But the islands of the Caribbean sit on great geothermal resources that could provide not only an energy source that would make electricity cheaper but also help the islands to move away from the dependency on an outside source of energy and the fluctuations in price.
The challenge is that most of the islands are too small and geothermal power plants, with the associated cost in developing them, are often too expensive for just a limited amount of people and businesses using it. But there are opportunities in connecting islands and helping them to export geothermal power or receive power generated in the Caribbean.
To read more about his points and his view on the example of Nevis and its geothermal ambitions click link below.
Source: Vifreepress
