Charlestown, Nevis
March 12, 2008
The buzz about the interest that has been shown in Nevis by other islands, strengthens the hand of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) and reaffirms the faith that the people of Nevis placed in the NRP Administration to look after the affairs of Nevis. That was the view of the Junior Minister responsible for Communications, Works and Public Utilities on Nevis Hon. Carlisle Powell during a recent interview with the Department of Information.
Mr. Powell indicated that the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) Saba and Anguilla had showed interest in securing a deal with West Indies Power Nevis Limited (WIP) to purchase power from Nevis when it’s found and harnessed.
He indicated that in light of the mounting interest in the island’s natural resources and the many accolades registered by government officials from neighbouring islands was evidence of the trust placed in the Administration’ vision.
“NIA was astute about the exploration of geothermal energy when permission was granted to West Indies Power Limited (WIPL) to be licensed, explore, develop and produce power to the people of Nevis at a cheaper rate, which would eradicate the fuel surcharge applied due to increased oil prices,” he said.
Renewable energy’s environmental benefits would be profitable for Nevis in terms of eliminating fuel emissions into the environment. Not only would geothermal power and wind energy eradicate the fuel surcharge paid, it would also market Nevis as a more environmentally friendly tourism destination in the region.
The NRP Administration met with another team of experts from the USVI last week who represented the power utilities company.
During a recent visit to Nevis, Executive Director for the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) Water and Power Authority (WAPA) Mr. Hugo Hodge remarked that they had researched the technology and had come to Nevis to look at the technical side of the operations for a better feel of the process and to learn how power would be manufactured.
“Geothermal appears to be a viable option to combat the high prices of dependency on fossil fuels for generations. The fact that it would be available on Nevis and we are close by it’s a blessing for the Caribbean,” he said.
The team of experts from the USVI comprised of the Chief Operating Officer Mr. Gregory Rimier, former Senator Roosevelt David (WIP representative in the USVI), Chief Financial Officer and assistant Executive Director Mr. Neillan Bourrowry.
The USVI Water and Power Authority (WAPA) said it was working towards diversifying its power in generation portfolio and was significantly improving the utility’s efficiency and reliability. The Authority is seeking power providers that could reduced the cost of producing electricity and decrease its dependency on oil.
it is very good for the countries to have geothermal power.