Antigua and Barbuda in Advanced Talks With St. Kitts and Nevis on Geothermal Energy Deal
Prime Minister Gaston Browne says Antigua and Barbuda is in advanced discussions with Saint Kitts and Nevis and the European Union on a proposed geothermal energy partnership aimed at reducing electricity costs and the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Speaking on Pointe FM, Browne said the proposal would involve purchasing geothermal power generated in Nevis and transmitting it to Antigua through a subsea cable.
“We’re in advanced discussions now with St. Kitts and Nevis and the European Union,” Browne said. “The European Union is thinking about advancing some funds, a few hundred million US dollars, to St. Kitts and Nevis, to help them to develop the geothermal energy.”
He said Antigua and Barbuda has indicated it would buy electricity from St. Kitts and Nevis to help ensure the project’s commercial viability.
“And we have said to the European Union that we will buy the power from St. Kitts Nevis to ensure that it’s commercially viable,” Browne said.
The prime minister described geothermal energy as a more stable and reliable alternative to fossil fuels and renewable sources such as solar and wind, which can be affected by weather conditions.
“You don’t have that kind of problem with geothermal. You’re getting strong base load energy consistently,” he said.
Browne argued that the arrangement could significantly reduce energy costs across the Eastern Caribbean and lessen the impact of volatile global oil prices on consumers.
“So within the OECS, I’m going to try and do is certainly to see how I can help to accelerate greater collaboration cooperation,” he said, linking the geothermal proposal to wider regional integration efforts.
The discussions form part of broader efforts by Antigua and Barbuda to transition toward renewable energy as households and businesses face rising electricity costs linked to international fuel prices.
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How that is so! but the blind mice engineers in Antigua can’t see to run a high voltage marine cable to Barbuda and jumby bay? And I have even suggested using a DC cable with phase converters that is much more long lasting than AC cable that suffer from reactance.
I tell you it is not who say they have university degree is entitled to experience and knowledge.
All them islands from the virgin islands and Bahamas uses marine power cable under the sea to power their sister islands.
If st Kitts gets geothermal energy into their industry, they will become a industrial revolution and with lower prices on goods and a manufacturing hub.
Also their engineering and workmen skill and expertise will surpass Antigua because their utility will have to adapt hot line work on their power line to prevent power down time and especially when exporting power under contractual agreement.
Tell our politicians to unhand our engineers in antigua and Barbuda and give them atonomy with proper financing and they will produce, it is the politics that stifles growth, case in question is the wind turbine placed by viv stadium to flamboyantly hit the camera broadcasting during cricket games to to lure donors into throwing money behind green energy, but behind the seen it is ineffective of alleviating our energy efficiency and cost.
They did not choose say high elevations like new Winthorpes where one was located for years or boggey peak hill or Shirley’s height, the politicians place their self interest first and sacrifice the interest of the country on an altar of taking in speculative unaccountable monies through the blue economy and green energy and passports that the country doesn’t benefit from. The slogan BLUE ECONOMY was given to our politicians during those meetings that the lobbyist held with them to come back and recite to us, and all it is about is colonizing our fishing resources, while slavery has bequeathed poverty upon us and leaved us without the ability to harness what ever resources available, we are instead govern by lethargic leaders regardless of which party in power because they are all centrist political party.
I would like to think of a modern leader who would strike deals to procure fishing vessel to utilize our huge square miles of water filled with riches, and lease or sell to our fishermen and allow them to instead trade or sell to these international countries whose local fishermen is coming here to rake out the bottom of our seas and go back to their country as billionaires while our politicians will be the only one to see the pittance they will pay to the country and leave our country depleted of fish stock like they have done in their country’s waterway.
I am writing because I want to have a say in the direction of my country, I am not into identity politics or partisan politics, it crazy to see what is going on. We have crimes as other countries, I have been advocating for the government to get some all in one solar powered streetlight with camera combination military grade to deter or solve the crimes and missing person that has been happening so frequently, but it is always the politicians that have the say. The first streetlight project done by the UPP administration was great but should have had high voltage cable buried to power the streetlights instead of low voltage cable, had it been the other way around our power system would have advance as a resilient system today.
During vere Cornwall bird era, the common small man had an input, today academic elites think that it’s their opinion alone has merit.
Now if there was to be a marine cable between Antigua and st Kitts, the human resource skill is not here to maintain such, our engineers have no actual hands on experience, they are just put as supervisors over the skilled workers base on academic titles, I have been advocating for standardization in APUA, where we develop journeyman skill trades men, and do away with titles like foreman and supervisors that just hold the country hostage, a person becoming supervisor at what ever era in the heir life would have exited the hands on experience as technology continue to change, and what you find is that supervisor or foreman use a heavy vindictive hand to have things static as he or she would have learned, if we train everyone into journeyman standard, then it is a rotational responsibility position for any well trained experience worker to supervise a task for a responsibility allowances, so other workers do not have to become despondent waiting on that foreman or supervisor to either age and go on pension or death attrition to have their personal growth and aspirations realized.
The local workmen journeyman technicians in the virgin islands and Bahamas and other places does this very technical work of repairing marine sea cables. The Antigua work pool needs to be develop and given the opportunity to function.
Let us ignore the sub sea communication cables as these are the properties of international conglomerates like Cable and Wireless from the UK. How much will the power cables cost and who will be footing this bill? Do understand that the Caribbean Sea between the Federation and Antigua is generally between 3,000 feet to 6,000 feet deep.
So we are just going to forget about the Solar panels that are there taking up space. Buying batteries and seeing if there is an efficient way to utilize solar energy to reduce costs wasn’t a thought??
A project like this will take at least 7 to 10 years. In the meantime Antiguans continue to suffer from huge electricity bills which could have been much reduced if this incompetent administration had done more to develop other forms of renewable energy..especially solar. Other small island countries with more progressive and competent leaders are way ahead of us. The Cook Islands, for example, generate 92% of their electric power from renewable sources…mostly solar. In Grenada, the Government is actively promoting Small Independent Power Producers to invest in small solar power plants and sell the electricity to the Utility under long term purchase contracts. This is what competent and progressive Governments are doing..Our PM has just appointed a large and bloated Cabinet. They need to get to work!
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