Nevis National Parliament unanimously supports geothermal development
Approaching the port at Nevis, St. Kitts & Nevis/ Caribbean (source: flickr/ Daniel Farrell, creative commons)
Carlo Cariaga
23 Nov 2023
The National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis has unanimously voted in favor of a resolution on the government's commitment to pursue geothermal development.
Members of the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis unanimously voted in favor of a resolution that outlines the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis’ and the Nevis Island Administration’s (NIA) commitment to collaboratively pursue the development of geothermal energy on Nevis.
Premier of Nevis the Honourable Mark Brantley thanked the Federal Government led by Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew for the cooperation and foresight in realizing the potential benefits of geothermal development in the country.
“We can power St. Kitts and Nevis and have a paradigm shift in terms of how we develop…We have all the stars aligned, all we needed was the will. That’s why today for me is historic because we have a public demonstration of the will to make this happen,” said Premier Brantley.
“We have given a lot of lip service to being the best small island state in the world; I actually feel that we can achieve it…. Geothermal represents our gold, our oil, our timber, our diamonds. It is the natural resource that we are blessed with and I’m happy to finally have a partner in Basseterre that understands that this benefits everybody.”
Prime Minister Drew emphasized that this was an issue where political differences must be set aside for the good of the country and its citizens. “We are obligated, I don’t care what our politics is, to each member of St. Kitts and Nevis that they would have the opportunity to live the best life that they can.”
“St. Kitts and Nevis is going to take this on as a federal project and this document is a clear representation that St. Kitts and Nevis are not merely speaking words of working together, but this Resolution passed in the parliament by Members who are here, actioned together, opposition and government, saying here is the document, we are ready to act.”
In December 2022, NIA and the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis announced a tender for the drilling of three production wells and two reinjection wells to support a potential 10-MW development, with funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The bidding period had to be extended twice, owing to the massive show of interest that the tender attracted. The tender was officially closed in April 2023 after receiving more than 100 enquiries, although the results are yet to be announced.
Source: Nevis Island Administration
