Hon. Charles Kirnon, Minister of Communication & Works
On Friday, September 30, 2011,the Department for International Development (DFID), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and government of Montserrat have co-financed a EC$36 million power plant project that will pave the way for a transition to more renewable sources of energy.
Chairman of Montserrat Utilities Limited (MUL), Mr. Philip Chambers said at the launch that DFID’s contribution to the power plant project is conditioned upon the new power station be designed so that future potential of green energy can be easily integrated into the generation plant.
Mr. Philip Chambers, Chairman of Montserrat Utilities Limited
Mr. Chambers said, “Montserrat Utilities Limited is currently operating on five unreliable high speed generating sets, which have very high fuel consumption and a very high maintenance cost.” He added, “the high operating cost is reflected in the cost of electricity to the consumers,” a much talked about topic on every corner and by every consumer in Montserrat.
Mr. Kato Kimbugwe, DFID’s Programme Representative explained that the containerised diesel sets were not built for permanent operation. He said they were designed for emergency situations and have a normal service expectancy of approximately 10 years. He added that some of the gen-sets were in operation for over 15 years and are in need of being replaced. He noted that the consumers have been affected by frequent power outages that have increased in recent times.
Mr. Kato Kimbugwe, DFID’s Programme Representative
Increased power outages can hinder Montserrat economic growth, Kimbugwe cautioned. “….frequent power outages mean increased cost to households and businesses, in terms of equipment failure but more importantly for businesses, a decline in productivity; and significantly Montserrat becomes less attractive for investment at a critical time of its development.”
Allison Davis, Portfolio Manager of CDB said: “An efficient, secure and reliable electricity service will facilitate increased activity in the productive sectors and this in turn would stimulate economic growth.”
She reaffirmed the CDB’s commitment to Montserrat, which since its inception has approved a total of EC$35.37 million in loans and EC$18.63 million. The majority of the grant support has come through the Bank’s Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) programme.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Communications Hon. Charles T. Kirnon expressed government’s gratitude for the grant made by the UK through DFID, and the CDB for “bridging the financial gap to enable us to complete the project.”
Allison Davis, Portfolio Manager of CDB
DFID is providing EC$22.4 million for the project, with EC$6.7 million from the CDB through a soft loan and an additional one million dollars in grant from the CDB. MUL and the Government of Montserrat are providing in kind contributions of $6.0 (six) million in land and local resources to the project.
A workshop was held following the launch to give the relevant stakeholders a greater understanding of the project and its relevance to the redevelopment of Montserrat. Information coming out of the workshop said, it also provided the opportunity for the stakeholders to understand their individual roles and the roles of everyone charged with the project’s implementation in order to achieve the objectives in a timely manner.
The tender process for the project has begun and it is hoped that it will be awarded by the end of March 2012. CDB is estimating a Power Station Commissioning in June of 2014.
