Renewable Energy Archives - Page 19 of 20 - Nevis Island News and Notes

Geothermal Exploration On Nevis Is A Success!

Steam Ejecting From Nevis 1 Geothermal Well

Charlestown, Nevis
June 03, 2008

Monday June 02, 2008, marked a milestone in geothermal explorations on Nevis and in the Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS), when the first commercially sound reservoir jetted steam from a depth of 3720 feet at the Spring Hill Nevis I site. Minister with Responsibility for Public Utilities, Natural Resources and the Environment Hon. Carlisle Powell, who was on site said he was never doubtful that geothermal energy was available on Nevis.

“There was never any doubt all studies said there was geothermal energy it was just a matter of finding it.

“I am absolutely delighted that thy have been able to prove the first well as commercially viable. Of course there is still a lot of work to be done before we can turn this steam into electricity but I am confident that West Indies Power (WIP) and its subcontractors are doing the right thing,” he said.

Meantime, Chief Executive Officer (WIP) Mr. Kerry Mc Donald, told the Department of Information of the significance of the find. He cited that it was a sustainable reservoir with an approximate temperature of 480 degrees Fahrenheit which had enough energy for a geothermal power plant.

“The significance of this is that at 3500 feet we hit a small fracture and we developed that small fracture the same as this. To develop that fracture we took out the drill bit so we had an open pipe that we were using to develop it. That took 20 hours to develop about 1/20 of this amount of steam. We went down 200 more feet at basically 2:30 we started to develop this [and] at 3:30 the steam came out. The drill bit is still in the pipe so in other words what you are seeing is steam coming around the little cracks between the drill bit and the pipe wall so this pipe is not open. All you are seeing is what’s coming around the sides, so if we opened this pipe it would be flowing about five times more than this.

“We feel all the water we use to drill with, will be out of this in roughly 30 hours and we will have nothing but the pure steam. What this says is we are in the reservoir. This is a sustainable reservoir and this is enough to build our geothermal power plant,” he said.

Nevis Junior Minister – Mr. Carlisle Powell

Charlestown, Nevis
May 19, 2008

Junior Minister with responsibility for Communications, Works, Public Utilities, Physical Planning, Posts, Natural Resources and Environment in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Hon. Carlisle Powell, announced to the media that the draft for geothermal energy legislation was at a stage where the NIA was ready to receive comments from stakeholders and the public.

He said the draft will be taken to Parliament and later would become the Bill that would protect geothermal and other renewable resources of energy for the people of Nevis. Mr. Powell made the pronouncement during a recent press briefing recently held at the Nevis TV Channel 8, to inform the media about current developments that pertained to geothermal legislation.

Mr. Powell said evidence suggested that geothermal energy would have a significant impact on the economy of Nevis, which would generate millions of dollars per annum for the island’s Treasury. He further expressed that the advent of geothermal energy would provide funds for the NIA to develop Nevis at a rapid pace unlike before.

“Now why have we taken such care and why have we decided to move this forward even though we’ve taken care at pace? We have done so because in all of our discussions with the other persons and countries in the world who know of and produce geothermal power and indeed those persons and companies that produces wind power, that there is an abundance of evidence to suggest that in geothermal, in particular, we have a resource that will be able to, over time, have a significant impact on the economy in Nevis, which will in turn allow us to develop the country at a pace that we have never been able to do before so for that, we are extremely grateful, ” he said.

Nevis Geothermal Energy Drilling Project

Charlestown, Nevis
April 17, 2008

The geothermal exploration project on Nevis received another boost on Thursday April 17, 2008, when Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Sustainable Development, Infrastructure and Technology in the Federal Government of St. Kitts and Nevis Hon. Nigel Carty, gave a commitment that St. Kitts stood ready to purchase renewable energy from Nevis.

The Junior Federal Minister made the disclosure in an interview with the Department of information during his visit to Nevis where he met and held discussions with Junior Minister with responsibility for Works, Public Utilities, Natural Resources and the Environment in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Hon. Carlisle Powell along with members of the Nevis Electricity Company Ltd. and West Indies Power Nevis Ltd. the company involved in ongoing geothermal explorations on the island.

“I am prepared to say that the government of St. Kitts and Nevis stands 100 percent behind this operation and stands ready at anytime, to become involved in any power purchase arrangement between West Indies Power and the Federal government of St. Kitts and Nevis,” Mr. Carty said.

The visiting Minister who was accompanied by Director of Physical Planning and the Environment in the Federal Government Mr. Randolph Edmeade, OAS Director to St. Kitts and Nevis Mr. Starett Green and Consultant to the government of St. Kitts and Nevis through an OAS arrangement Dr. Albert Binger, said that he was impressed with the discussions held and operations at the Spring Hill Nevis I drill site.

Nevis Island Geothermal Drilling Rig

Charlestown, Nevis
April 16, 2008

A team from the St. Kitts Electricity Department visited Nevis on Wednesday March 16, 2008.to observe the ongoing operations up close at the West Indies Power Nevis Ltd. geothermal energy drill site at Spring Hill.

Head of the team Mr. Bertille Browne Superintendent of Transmission and Distribution on St. Kitts, told the Department of Information that the 13 member contingent made up of technicians was on a fact finding mission.

“I am with a group of engineers and technicians who come to look at the operations here for the geothermal project. We are basically looking at the technical aspect of it because one day in the future we may have to make technical decisions if there are any interconnectivity between this project and our system in Nevis.

Junior Minister Carlisle Powell

Charlestown, Nevis
April 7, 2008

Junior Minister responsible for Works, Public Utilities, Natural Resources and the Environment Hon. Carlisle Powell cleared suspicions that the Nevis Reformation Party led Nevis Island Administration (NIA) had abandoned the services of the Organization of American States (OAS). Minister Powell made the announcement during a Press Conference held to update the media of the NIA’s move to embark upon putting proper legislations in place to govern Nevis’ Geothermal Energy resources.

“I know there were attempts made to mislead the general public to suggest that the NIA through the NRP in office had dismissed the services of the OAS, which had been used for Nevis, for some time. On the outset, I just want to clear the air and say the OAS continues to work with us and has assisted us in every turn to ensure that we were able to move the project forward properly. It was for this reason why we have the very able assistance of these two tireless workers,” Mr. Powell said.

Minister Powell said the OAS services secured by the NIA [over the past week] of Mr. Kevin De Cuba and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Mr. John Armstrong, were efficiently used during their one week working period on the island. He also added they made certain all of the legislations were in place for Purchase Agreements for the geothermal project to continue being useful to the people of Nevis, to help reduce the cost of living on the island.

Geothermal Exploration On Nevis Is A Success!

Nevis Government To Review Geothermal Legislation

Federal Government To Purchase Renewable Energy From Nevis

St. Kitts Electricity Dept. Visits Nevis Geothermal Site

Carlisle Powell Clears Air On OAS Issue