NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS – Premier of Nevis the Honourable Mark Brantley on Tuesday, February 13, welcomed a delegation from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) to Nevis to discuss possible funding for the island’s geothermal energy project.
The Premier, the Minister responsible for Energy and Foreign Investment, led the discussions during a meeting at the Cabinet Room of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA).
“We are delighted that we have through the partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the opportunity to explore this very valuable resource and I want to say to our visiting delegation that this has the potential to transform lives here.
“We certainly hope that you visiting here with us from Saudi Arabia that you will see the benefit of partnering with such a small country to do something truly great,” he said.
Among the 31-member delegation that journeyed from St. Kitts was Minister of Energy and Utilities the Honourable Konris Maynard. He said the meeting was a significant move intended to further discussions on exploring geothermal potential on Nevis, stemming from initial engagements with the SFD in 2023.
“They are now here on the ground to do their own analysis of the project to see the pathway of partnership and so we are very excited to be here,” the Minister stated.
Following the meeting Premier Brantley, along with representatives from the Nevis Electricity Company (NEVLEC), led the delegation on a site visit to the Hamilton geothermal wells. Several representatives from the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC) were also part of the visiting delegation.
At the site of the N3 and N4 geothermal wells NEVLEC General Manager Mr. Albert Gordon provided the SFD team an overview of what is envisioned for the project. The group was able to ask questions about the proposed operations, such as energy generation capacity, scope of the development, and supplying geothermal energy to St. Kitts and the region, which were clarified by Mr. Gordon and Premier Brantley.
At the end of the site visit Premier Brantley shared his thoughts on the engagement with the SFD delegation. He also thanked the Federal Government for its role in helping to advance Nevis’ geothermal energy project.
“I want the public to understand that this is an all-encompassing effort…We are talking to the Saudis about gap funding and we thank again the involvement of the Federal Government. They are the ones with the international relations capacity so protocol clearly would demand that they be involved, and they have really been helpful in terms of moving this project along.
“So we are optimistic with the funds that we’ve secured from the Caribbean Development Bank which are still there, plus now the funds we anticipate from the Saudis, we want definitely to move this project forward this year.”
The Nevis Island Administration is in the process of finalizing the bidding phase of the multi-million-dollar project and anticipates that drilling would start within six months of contracting the drilling company.