In a ZJB report the Honorable Paul Lewis, Minister of Communications and Works with responsibility for energy says there exists a window of opportunity for the island to explore the possibility of developing solar energy to complement its geothermal and wind resources.
Mr. Lewis says Montserrat is blessed and therefore each resource should be utilised as much as possible.
Speaking on the issue, Lewis said, “…as any good responsible Government we always make sure that even though we have ideas before we move forward that we get the experts in to do assessments and to guide us going forward.”
The Minister recalled his attendance at a forum on energy held by CARICOM where, “I requested the services of a CARICOM unit and right away they were very receptive and they have never left us.”
He continued, “they are walking with us shoulder to shoulder and through CARICOM we were able to get in on the program that’s sponsored by GIZ…”
The they were here, he said. “And they conducted a feasible study on the solar plant and also very important as many countries have not even done this as yet is this stability study, doing the modeling to see how the introduction of solar and geothermal how the grid will react to the introduction of these various renewables.”
The Minister revealed, “One of things coming out of this study is that we can make an attempt in several stages at reaching the one megawatt of power; and it was really clear that we should consider land usage and by that I mean if we can utilize the land in such a way where it’s for multiple use that would be great.”
He said that one area that was identified is car parks and rooftops and that the “car park here at MCW and the car parks and the rooftops at MUL Generating site, which is just about a stone store away from each other.”
In the first stage, “we will be aiming for two hundred fifty kilowatts of power by solar via utilizing the rooftops and covered car parks,” he concluded.
As Deputy Premier former Minister of Communications & Works, the Honourable Charles T. Kirnon had said Montserrat is actively exploring renewable sources of energy. DFID’s then Programme Representative for Montserrat Kato Kimbugwe said at the same launch that they are in support of the Government’s desire to find more secure platforms of renewable like geothermal and wind.
It was with an early completion when the former Minister Kirnon said during the launch of the new power station project for Montserrat, that one of the government’s medium term goals was “to reduce the island’s dependence on imported fossil fuel for its energy needs. Government is therefore advancing its plans at geothermal development.”
