← Return to blog

Off-grid power in St Kitts and Nevis

This two  island nation is one of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles.

St Kitts is 168km2 in area and  29 km long by 8 km across. 

It has 40,000 people and Bass Terre is the main town..

The parliament administers the country but also operates the local government for both islands. A narrow channel of 3 kms separates the two islands.

Basseterre is also the capital of the Federation.

Between 1623 and 1783 control switched between the French and British until finally it came under permanent British sovereignty. This remained the position until the islands became independent in 1983. Throughout this period the economy was dominated by sugar cultivation but a cut in EU subsidies which benefited all Caribbean cane producers was progressively reduced in the 1990’s so finally in 2005 the mill was closed and sugar cultivation ceased.

The modern economy is dominated by tourism and financial services.  Since 2011 tourism receipts have risen by 9-10% every year. By 2018 visitors totalled 153,000 while receipts now exceed $1 billion and account for 62% of GDP.

Satellite view of St Kitts and Nevis

By contrast Nevis is 93 km2 and has just 12,000 people but it is self governing with its own chief minister. The main town is Charlestown. Nevis is the exception in terms of development. Until 1991 GDP in Nevis was 10% higher than St Kitts and many blame the Federation government for the relative decline on Nevis and the lack of infrastructural improvements. The high degree of autonomy has allowed the growth of a sizeable offshore finance industry with 70,000 registered companies, 6 local banks and 1 international bank plus many lawyers. Its speciality is assisting individuals and companies to hide their assets by registering them in Nevis. Repeat registration alone accounts for an income of $ 5 million per year.

Nevis has the most educated population in the Caribbean per capita with 98% literacy rates. This results from a peculiar history associated with the early decline of sugar. Nevis had a particularly sweet and high yield from sugar but was dominated by the British but frequent attacks of the island by pirates and French proxies forced the plantation owners out of the country and led to high levels of local land ownership compared with St Kitts which still has many landless labourers.

Apart from financial services Nevis with its beautiful beaches and interior benefits from a growing tourist industry.

Both Nevis and St Kitts are ideal for solar power with long sunny days throughout the year but the growth of renewables has met resistance from the local grid companies. Each island has its own electricity company Nevis has had electricity since 1954.

Most power on both islands is generated by diesel generators (95%) with 3.9% of wind and only 1.77% of solar.  There are high power losses of 20% on Nevis and 17% on St Kitts suggesting maintenance problems.

St Kitts has installed capacity of 43 mW and Nevis 13.4 mW but government has plans for a further 70 mW.

The airport has a 1 mW solar farm and the government estimate a potential 16mW  of solar power at a rate of 5 kWhrs per m2 over the whole island. They also operate a solar loan scheme to encourage the take up of solar installations.

The island has looked at the development of geothermal power but the capital cost is high and would require a ‘partner’. The nearest is Puerto Rico, more than 400 kms from Nevis.

These attractive islands are perfect for the widespread use of solar energy and Off grid installer can help clients on both islands to take advantage of the massive resources of free solar power. Electricity prices of US0.29 per kWHr means a rapid payback of less than 10 years.

← Return to blog