Government of St. Kitts confirms geothermal development ambitions
Basseterre, St. Kitts (source: flickr/ Roger W, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
21 Feb 2017
The government of St. Kitts in the Caribbean has confirmed results of early feasibility studies on geothermal development potential for the island and is confident to develop the resources for power generation.
The government of St. Kitts in the Caribbean is committed to invest in alternative energy, including geothermal energy, but also wind and solar.
Nevis, the neighbor island of St. Kitts and part of the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis, is also developing its own geothermal project. Despite the efforts on Nevis, St. Kitts also wanted to establish if there are geothermal resources on the island and if they can be utilised for power generation.
Minister for Public Infrastructure Ian Patches Liburd said to local news: “I opine that we in St Kitts and Nevis say that the energy sector is the future so we took a three-pronged approach—we updated our energy policy and legislative framework for the adoption of alternative energy to build a more competitive private sector and improve energy security for households. We established an energy unit in the ministry.” He said that as of February 1, 2017, there was a new director of energy within his ministry. In September 2015, Minister Liburd signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Teranov, a French engineering and services company for new and renewable energy based in Guadeloupe. The MOU included a road map that could possibly see the production of geothermal energy in 2020.
Teranov began geothermal exploration exercises in the Sandy Point area around Brimstone Hill, going to the top of Mount Liamigua in late 2015. Five geoscientists were in St Kitts conducting feasibility studies in geophysics, geology and geochemistry. President of Teranov, Jacques Chouraki, said at the time that the prospects for geothermal energy on St Kitts were promising. Minister Liburd has now confirmed that after the feasibility studies, there is a geothermal resource on St Kitts.
Source: Nation News
