Geothermal Energy Archives - Page 19 of 21 - Nevis Island News and Notes

Nevis Delegation Tours Icelandic Geothermal Plant

Nevis Delegation Tours Geothermal Plant In Iceland

Charlestown, Nevis
August 22, 2008

The Premier of Nevis, the Hon. Joseph Parry led a delegation to Iceland from August 17th- 20th, 2008. The mission was aimed at acquiring first hand experience of geothermal plants at work, holding discussions with geothermal plant operators, while at the same time meeting officials, including the Prime Minister and members of the government and the Icelandic International Development Agency(ICEIDA). Iceland has had experience with the natural resource for over half a century.

The delegation included the Junior Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Hon. Carlisle Powell, Permanent Secretary, Mr. Ernie Stapleton and Protocol Officer, Ms Angelica Elliott.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of Iceland, H.E Mr. Geir H. Haarde, Premier Parry and his team attended a luncheon meeting at the Culture House in Reykjavik, where discussions included a team of senior government officials, as well as a member of the ICEIDA, who all congratulated Premier Parry on his bold step of advancing geothermal explorations and development on Nevis.

Premier of Nevis – Joseph Parry

Charlestown, Nevis
August 15, 2008

Premier of Nevis Hon. Joseph Parry cleared the air on his upcoming two day visit to Iceland and cited it would be for positive reasons related to geothermal energy unlike the Opposition’s charge that it was for prior lack of research on the matter.

Mr. Parry told the Department of Information on August 14, 2008, on the heels of a National Consultation on the Economy which was hosted by Prime Minister Hon. Denzil Douglas at the Marriott Hotel in St. Kitts earlier that day, that he explained to the forum why he found it important to accept an invitation to visit with the government of Iceland.

“I specifically indicated why I was going to Iceland, I thought that was very important because I didn’t want anybody to be mistaken why I was going to Iceland and there are two reasons why I am going. The first reason is to get their government’s support to build our negotiation team for the power purchase agreement and the second reason was to see the economic impact that geothermal has had on Iceland, so that we can get a feel of what it can do in terms of Nevis for the next few years.

“I am not going to Iceland because we have a problem or we did not do proper research at the beginning. I am going to Iceland for positive reasons and I want the public to be quite clear on that and let me finally say as far as this is concerned I like to define myself, I think I can speak very well I don’t need the Opposition [Concerned Citizens Movement] to define me. They seem better defining me than doing the work they should have done in the last 14 years,” he said.

West Indies Power GM – Mr. Rawlinson Issac

Charlestown, Nevis
August 12, 2008

General Manager of West Indies Power Nevis Ltd. (WIP) M. Rawlinson Isaac, said that the company had every intention to fulfill its promise to the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) and the people of Nevis, to provide cheaper sustainable energy. He praised Premier of Nevis Hon. Joseph Parry for his foresight to allow geothermal explorations to commence on the island.

He made the remark while he officially handed over a gazebo and bus stand at the Five Turnings in Cotton Ground Village to Premier of Nevis and Area Representative Hon. Joseph Parry, at a ceremony on August 08, 2008.

“Our [WIP] intention and we have promised the Premier that we will provide this country with cheap and sustainable electricity, no outages whatsoever. Don’t worry [when] you hear people talking all kinds of nonsense, the resource is here, we are here to extract it to develop that resource, to operate and to produce electricity. There is no mystery about it, it happens all over the world. Iceland is doing it for almost 100 years; Italy, the United States provides about 2,000 mega watts; Russia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Taiwan [and] in the Caribbean we have Guadeloupe. So we are saying that we have a tremendous power base here and that we have to extract it for our own utility.

“I want you [Nevisians] to commend and to give really top cheers to the Premier because when we [WIP] approached him about geothermal, although it has been around for quite some time, he had the vision and not only the vision, he also had the courage – because I would imagine all those times people talking about volcano and earthquake if you attempt to drill – to stand up to all those concerns and to give West Indies Power the license to explore,” he said.

Geothermal Energy Drilling In Nevis, West Indies

Charelstown, Nevis
August 07, 2008

Local interest in the geothermal operations on Nevis continued to grow and according to a top official of West Indies Power Nevis Ltd. the trend was evident in the number of persons who continued to visit the Spring Hill Nevis1 site and the Upper Jessups Nevis 2 site.

Chief Operations Officer (COO), Head of Drilling Operations of West Indies Power Mr. Bobby Tinsley, made the observation when he spoke with the Department of Information at his Nelson Spring office on August 07, 2008.

“We have seen a lot of people up there [Nevis 2]. Our security guard handles most of the in betweens stuff and the people who want to come see the location. So stop and see the security guard if you are coming up. They will bring you up and show you around the location.

“During Culturama in the last three or four days I guess people were off work we have seen a tremendous amount of people up there asking a lot of questions. What we are doing? When we think it will be online? Where is the plant going? What is the pad for? Why did we dig the pond? Typical questions from the public that have a lot of interest. Their reactions have been very good they are all smiles and are waiting to see the productivity come along,” he said.

Nevis Children Watch Geothermal Presentation

Charlestown, Nevis
July 21, 2008

In a very interactive session with primary school students, Jr. Minister with responsibility for Natural Resources and the Environment in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Hon. Carlisle Powell addressed the status of the island’s geothermal project and told them that Nevis stood to benefit financially from it.

This came on July 17, at the Charlestown Secondary School’s Auditorium during the Nevis Public Library’s Annual Environmental Awareness Programme. The participants aged nine to 12 years, were anxious to learn more about the project and asked Minister Powell several questions including whether Nevis would make money from geothermal energy.

“With geothermal energy, once you start selling to the other islands, Nevis will be making monies from royalty. Royalty is just a nice word for a tax. It’s as simple as that and so (from) all the current that is produced and sold; Nevis will be getting a tax and when you sell the electricity outside of St. Kitts and Nevis the tax is going to be higher so you will be making monies from that.

“The second way that Nevis will be making money is that once West Indies Power Limited (WIPL) would have paid off their initial loans then the Government of Nevis will be expecting to get a share of the profits. So that if they are making $200 million a year, Nevis expects to get a fair share of whatever monies they make so yes Nevis will be making more money with geothermal energy,” Minister Powell said and expressed his joy in the participants’ interest.

Nevis Delegation Tours Icelandic Geothermal Plant

Nevis Premier Speaks About Iceland Trip

Cheap Geothermal Energy For Nevis From West Indies Power

Geothermal Energy Drilling In Nevis Draws Interest

Nevis Will Make Money From Geothermal, Says Minister