Nevis, West Indies. ?A Non-Tourist-Trap? Blog About Nevis.

Nevis To Be Clean and Green

Charlestown, Nevis
September 09, 2010

Sustainability remains a critical component for the Nevis Electricity Company Ltd. (NEVLEC), if it is to achieve its goal of sustainable energy production. That view was expressed by the Utility’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. Ernie Stapleton, when he delivered remarks at their 10th anniversary Dinner and Awards Ceremony at Mount Nevis Hotel recently.

He said a solid foundation had already been established for the Company and stability would come from strategic growth and development.

“It comes with good governance, the use and application of appropriate and cost effective technologies, the consistent training, development and exposure of management and staff, the continued collaboration of the company with the shareholder – the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), the customers as well as strategic partners at home and abroad. Without these we will not survive and we will not achieve sustainable energy production,” he said.

The Board Chairman said NEVLEC should not be allowed to return to the earlier days, when the power supply was notoriously unreliable and threatened to affect the island’s investor climate. However, he noted that the Company should only look at the past to learn from mistakes and to resolve to forge ahead to the future.

Mr. Stapleton regarded the Company as one which led the way in renewable energy development and had been successful in its collaboration with the NIA, strategic partners and the developer to bring wind energy production to the people of Nevis. He said next year the company would have another clean and reliable source of power in geothermal.

According to the Chairman of the Board, the goal to become the first utility company in the Caribbean to have 100 percent electricity generated from renewable resources was achievable.

“Our people are being trained in wind and geothermal energy efficiency. Let us remain therefore, steadfast and focussed. Let us therefore, work hand in hand to be a beacon for the Caribbean and indeed the world. We must catch the vision, embrace it let us make it happen. The spark is here the fire is burning let us fan the flames,” he said.

However, on reflection of the current status of electricity and then on Nevis Mr. Stapleton said there had been challenging times in the past with an unreliable system and difficulty with revenue collections.

He thanked the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for providing the financing for the project which saw the birth of NEVLEC. After 10 years he said, the company could boast of a reliable supply to the economy and people of Nevis.

The Nevis Electricity Company Ltd. now boasts of well defined job descriptions, polices, role and responsibilities for all sections of operations and management and according to Mr. Stapleton, the most significant was that all key positions in the company were occupied by Nevisians.

“There is a sense of ownership which I believe would only be boosted by offering shares to the employees of NEVLEC sometime in the future but we must ask the question, how did we get here?

“It is my humble opinion it was due to hard work, dedication, sacrifices and cooperation. The Board of Directors and Management worked together. The shareholder, the Nevis Island Administration was involved every step of the way. The people of Nevis, our customers, judged NEVLEC harshly even though they could not appreciate and understand the intricacies of delivering and maintaining a quality and essential service to the population,” he said.

Mr. Stapleton was later in the programme recognised by NEVLEC for his service to the Company as the longest serving Board member. Other members of staff who had worked with NEVLEC since its inception were also honoured.

Related posts:

1. Green Energy Will Be Good For Nevis Economy
2. Nevis Island Can Expect Geothermal Energy In 2011
3. Nevis Electricity Company Managed By Nevisians
4. Earth Day and Nevis’ Green Energy Program
5. Survey Predicts 54,000 Energy Saving Bulbs For Nevis

US Secretary of State – Hillary Clinton

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
April 16, 2010 (CUOPM)

St. Kitts and Nevis is to benefit from energy and climate initiatives that the United States will launch through partnerships with the Caribbean and Latin America.

United States Secretary of State, the Hon. Hilary Clinton in an address to an Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) Ministerial Meeting in Washington, D.C. attended by St. Kitts and Nevis Minister responsible for Energy, the Hon. Dr. Earl Asim Martin pledged to work to advance sustainable energy in the Caribbean.

“This is the area of the world most dependent on imported fossil fuels and suffering from the world’s highest electricity rates. That’s shameful in our hemisphere, and it shouldn’t be. The people of the Caribbean are creative, resilient; they’re able to lead the way in new forms of energy, and we want to be a partner. The United States will provide a grant to the Organization of American States to lend technical and legal expertise to any Caribbean country seeking to help get clean energy projects off the ground. We are committed to helping you with energy security. We think clean energy and energy security go hand in hand,” said Mrs. Clinton.

She noted that on Wednesday, the OAS, the Caribbean energy ministers, CARICOM, the World Bank, the IDB, and officials from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands launched a dialogue to explore the possibility of installing undersea electric cables in the region to give the Caribbean access to new power supplies.

“Another exciting possibility would link Puerto Rico with the U.S. Virgin Islands and a third would link the islands of Nevis and St. Kitts,” said the high United States official, who added:

“So we have a lot we can do and we have to get started. Imagine a future in which instead of waiting for those oil tankers to come and dock, Caribbean nations are supplying each other with energy, whether it’s geothermal power from Dominica or gas from Trinidad.”

Mrs. Clinton also said the United States will support energy and environmental security in Central America.

“Now, like the Caribbean, Central America has the potential to develop your own renewable energy, but it, too, remains dependent on imported fossil fuels. Countries like Honduras are already working to increase their power supply through renewable sources of energy. And the United States is ready to help the governments of Central America fulfill their goal of integrating their power infrastructures. Mexico and Colombia already support this effort.  Integration is a considerable undertaking, one that demands technical, legal, and policy reforms. But the countries of Central America have nearly 20 years of experience to build on and share with other nations. And I know that representatives from SICA met with Caribbean ministers at the OAS yesterday,” she said.

Mrs. Clinton said that there will be need to be some legal changes in the Caribbean and Central America, and there will need to be real leadership and political will to stand up against those who profit from imported oil.

“I’ve had discussions with some of the countries in the Caribbean and Central America. I know there are powerful political interests that dominate your imported oil markets that are very hard to take on. But you are beggaring your countries if you do not take them on and pass new laws that will create a new energy future and free up money that can be invested in health and education and raising the incomes of your people,” she pointed out.

Mrs. Clinton said that the United States will also work to advance sustainable biomass energy. In countries like Brazil, biomass in the form of crushed sugar cane stalks is used to power ethanol distilleries.

“We’re looking to promote the sustainable production and use of biomass. This effort will be led jointly by the State Department and the Department of Agriculture, and we invite other countries to participate with us,” she added.

Related posts:

1. Geothermal Energy To Benefit Nevis Island
2. Renewable Energy Development On Nevis Must Continue
3. Caribbean Economic Growth To Slow In 2008
4. Nevis To Benefit From Energy Conservation Project
5. Minister Martin In Washington For Energy Meeting

Keith Nichols – OECS Official

Charlestown, Nevis
April 15, 2010

Head of the OECS Secretariat’s Environmental and Sustainable Development Unit based in St. Lucia Mr. Keith Nichols, described as encouraging Nevis‘ advances in renewable energy initiatives. An area in which, he noted, the small island state continued to lead the entire Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS) grouping.

His comment came in a recent interview with the Department of Information when he gave his impressions of the strides Nevis had made in the development of geothermal and wind energy.

“I think that is really, really good. There is a model I think that has been developed, the negotiations that have been entered into, the agreements that are in place to support the developments both for geothermal and wind, and we are seeing tangible evidence of development…It is something I think the rest of the region has to learn from.

“There is a tremendous amount of work I know we have to do in the rest of the region and to bring our initiatives up to speed. It is not enough to keep talking and talking about where we want to go, I think we need to start to get serious about implementing some of those initiatives,” he said.

The OECS Official said in light of the rapidly increasing price of oil the region would find itself envious of what Nevis had achieved so far with renewable energy and considerations in that critical area would once again be placed on the front burner.

He explained that his office which was planning two high level meetings in Nevis on October, one for technicians followed by another for Environment Ministers of the region, would have the opportunity to expose the decision makers of the strides Nevis had made with renewable energy development and encourage them to advance more aggressively, that work that had started in some of the countries.

“We really need to do it, we are losing time and it is costing us a whole lot more while we keep paying the extra high prices for oil in the region. I think there is a demonstration effect that Nevis has showed to all of us [that] it can be done.

“They are going ahead and the country is pursuing those arrangements very aggressively and will have something in place that we will all be jealous of in the next few months. So hopefully that will serve as a catalyst to moving ahead our various initiatives in the rest of the Region,” he said.

Notwithstanding, Mr. Nichols contended that the region lacked the financial resources to support local initiatives and the islands were forced to look beyond for funding in the area of renewable energy development.

He explained that there were energy meetings all over the region and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat had installed an Energy Unit which had been pursuing renewable initiatives very aggressively through some funded programmes in the region.

“Right now the Orgainsation of American States is active in the region helping with policy development. The Caricom Secretariat through its Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Project is supported by the German Government through the GEC. They are aggressively looking for alternatives for renewable energy within the region and financing some of those options in the islands as well.

“The OECS Secretariat is also looking to put in place its own sustainable energy programme that will help add on or augment the benefits of the initiatives that are being pursued under the earlier mentioned projects,” he said.

According to Mr. Nichols, there was still a tremendous amount of work to be done. Among them were the will to eliminate the barriers which stood in the way of adopting renewable energy technology in the region.

“We need to look at legislation, we need to look at institutional frameworks, we need to look at policies, and if we can get past that stage then everything is relatively easy sailing but then we need to look at the financing opportunity, how we can engage the institutions in the region to support the development of the various opportunities whether its wind, solar, geothermal, whatever.

“I think we have enough renewable energy resources within the region to satisfy our energy needs into the future. If it’s done properly, [it] requires some planning, some advance thinking, some monies of course and with Minister Powell [responsible for Renewable Energy on Nevis] leading the charge, we can get there. I think Nevis has definitely shown its metal in this instance and demonstrated what could be done if we put our backs to it,” he said.

Related posts:

1. St. Kitts – Nevis Ramp Up Bio-Energy Programs
2. Nevis Government Hosts Renewable Energy Workshop
3. Renewable Energy Development On Nevis Must Continue
4. Nevis Joins Regional Platform On Renewable Energy
5. UWI Interested In Renewable Energy Projects On Nevis