March 2017 | Business View Caribbean

12 13 opening lines St. Kitts-Nevis Moves to Finalize Geothermal Agreement Minister of Public Infrastructure with responsi- bility for Energy, Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd, said that the St. Kitts and Nevis government is “committed to investing in alternative energy, pursuing geother- mal energy production, completing the wind farm, (and) supporting solar farm development.”Speaking in Parliament on February 16, two years after the current government political office, Liburd said that alternative energymust be the energy choice of a future St. Kitts and Nevis. “Given our many challenges,we also felt that it would be irresponsible of us as a government if we did not establish whether there was a geothermal resource here on St. Kitts and, if so, determine how best to develop that resourcewithout retarding the progress onNevis,”he said.“The Premier was right when he said that both resources will complement each other because having nowestablished that there is a geo- thermal resource on both islands, the situation is now ripe for discussion on inter-connectivity, for the discussion on the export of energy, as we on St. Kitts move now to final a geothermal agreement.” “We took a deliberate approach to face the major energy challenges and we took steps to ensure that renewable energy plays a critical role in the sus- tainable development and economic growth of our twin-island federation.We decided to transform to a more sustainable mix, and energy security is there- fore a requirement,”Liburd continued,while making reference to the United States former Secretary of State, John Kerry,who is credited with saying that energy is the market of the future. Liburd added: “I opine that we in St. Kitts and Nevis say that the energy sector is the future so we took a three-pronged approach--we updated our energy policy and legislative framework for the adoption of alternative energy to build a more competitive private sector and improve energy security for households.We established an energy unit in the Ministry.”He said that as of February 1, 2017, there is now a newDirector of Energy within his Ministry. In September 2015, Liburd signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Teranov, a French engi- neering and services company based in Guadeloupe for new and renewable energy.The MOU included a road map that could possibly see the production of geothermal energy in 2020.Teranov began geother- mal exploration exercises in the Sandy Point area around Brimstone Hill, going to the top of Mount Liamigua in late 2015. Five geoscientists were in St. Kitts conducting feasibility studies in geophys- ics, geology, and geochemistry. President of Teranov, Jacques Chouraki, said at the time that the prospects for geothermal energy on St. Kitts were promising. Liburd has now confirmed that, after the feasibility studies, there is a geothermal resource on St. Kitts.