Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): The rollout of solar energy initiatives across St. Kitts and Nevis is expected to increase in 2024 as the government is close to establishing a feed-in tariff policy to make investment into solar energy worthwhile.
A feed-in tariff is the funds or credit owed to independent power producers that put energy via solar PV or other renewable energy sources into the national electric grid. On the October 04 edition of the television and radio programme InFocus, Timothy Antoine, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, said that the establishment of a feed-in tariff in St. Kitts and Nevis and other regional countries must be done “quickly” so that the independent power producers, which may include homeowners or companies, can calculate their returns.
Minister of Utilities, the Honourable Konris Maynard, said that the government is currently working on a feed-in tariff policy.
“That is already in train, and we should have a draft policy very, very shortly,” said Minister Maynard during an appearance on Wednesday’s (October 11, 2023) edition of InFocus.
He added that the government will install solar panels on homes to be constructed as part of the housing revolution. The contribution from the panels will be guided by the feed-in policy when it is finalized.
“It’s not just sufficient to tell everyone to put solar panels on the grid,” Honourable Maynard said, noting that if there is a sudden drop in contributions from independent sources due to overcast skies it can negatively impact the generating capacity at the St. Kitts Electricity Company Ltd (SKELEC) power plant.
“If you put all of these solar panels on the grid you are actually reducing the need for power at the power station,” the utilities minister expressed. “If they [SKELEC] turn down their generators but then all of a sudden there is a big overcast of clouds, power is now not going into the system. It will destabilize the grid if SKELEC is not able to power back up their generators in time so it’s a technical thing where you have to make sure all of the balances and all of the nuances are accounted for.”
Minister Maynard noted that the government remains committed to reducing the reliance on fossil fuel, particularly as the price of oil is already spiking as a result of the Israel-Hamas war and St. Kitts and Nevis transforms into a Sustainable Island State.