Last Updated on March 4, 2022, 6:21 PM AST by Anthony Morris
Basseterre:St Kitts and Nevis recently got into a solar farm deal and a wind farm deal, said Dr. Bertil Browne, the Energy Unit Director in the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. The first step is the new solar farm deal and the wind farm deal is coming soon.
A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed between the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC) and a Swiss energy company called Leclanche, which will sell power to SKELEC for twenty years. Dr. Browne told an interviewer at the Energy Unit’s Office that the PPA was for twenty years.
The solar farm, which will be in the Basseterre Valley on both sides of the Kim Collins Highway, will cover more than 100 acres. It will provide 25% of the energy used in St. Kitts.
It’s a good spot because it’s close to the power station, it’s flat, and the area isn’t very useful because of an aquifer. The aquifer is not going to be hurt by a solar farm, but there are some things you can’t do on it.
There are also talks going on with a company called North Star to get a deal for a 6.6-megawatt wind farm in Belle Vue. This would give us 6% of our energy needs.
A lot of wind can be found on St. Kitts because it is near the northeast trade winds. This would be good for the country in terms of clean and cheap energy.
According to Mr. Frank, an environmental study done for the wind farm found that it would not have a big impact on the environment, and especially on the birds.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
