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Nevis to announce results of bid for development this month

Nevis to announce results of bid for development this month Nevis St. Kitts, island view (source: flickr/ Sonya Bobb, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 14 Oct 2013

Caribbean Island state Nevis expects to announce winner of a recent bid for the development of a geothermal project on the island in October 2013.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Deputy Premier of Caribbean island state of Nevis, Mark Brantley talks the ambitious plans of the island to change its complete energy supply to geothermal.

In a first stage it is planned to utilize geothermal resources of the island to supply power to all homes and businesses in Nevis, and later supply sufficient electricity to change its car fleet to electric vehicles.

“Once the system is running we could also lay undersea cables to nearby islands like St Barts, St Martin/St Maarten, Anguilla and Antigua, helping reduce other Caribbean islands’ dependence on fossil fuels,” said the Premier.

In his capacity he is overseeing the project and hopes to announce a contract for the new geothermal plant in October 2013.

Interesting enough, Nevis is supposedly one of the more unspoilt destinations in the Caribbean. The reasons named are planning laws banning construction of structures higher than coconut palms and a ban on development of fast-food chains.

The article particularly mentions that Nevis has been a favourite vacation spot for celebrities including Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook; actor Michael Douglas; and music star Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce.

The island features a number of luxury resorts, which could could become green resorts running on renewable power. There are also hopes that through geothermal power, the cost of energy for its 12,000 residents could be decreased.

Currently all electricity is derived from an oil-fired power station.

Source: The Sunday Times via The Australian