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Viewing cable 09BRIDGETOWN430, NEVIS HOSTS GEOTHERMAL CONFERENCE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BRIDGETOWN430 2009-07-16 14:12 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Bridgetown
VZCZCXRO9152
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHWN #0430 1971412
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161412Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7593
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL
UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 000430 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG PREL EINV KTBD IR XL
SUBJECT: NEVIS HOSTS GEOTHERMAL CONFERENCE 
 
REF: BRIDGETOWN 346 
 
 1. (U) The Nevis Island Administration (NIA) hosted the 
first Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Energy Conference on 
Nevis, June 30th through July 2nd to promote geothermal 
energy in the region.  In Attendance were government 
officials from St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Dominica, and 
St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  The governments of France 
and The Netherlands were also present to represent the 
interests of their Caribbean territories, and the French 
power company rounded out the attendees.  Geothermal experts 
from the University of Auckland in New Zealand put on a 
one-day geothermal workshop to close out the three-day 
conference.  Representatives from West Indies Power (WIP), 
the company developing the geothermal reservoir on Nevis, 
were more than pleased with the conference and the NIA 
support of the project in the press. 
 
2. (U) While attending the conference a key NIA official, 
Carlisle Powell, the minister responsible for natural 
resources, came out publicly with strong support for the 
development of geothermal energy on Nevis.  Powell stressed 
the need to reduce the cost of electricity to Nevisians, who 
currently pay one of the highest rates in the world, in order 
to sustain economic growth for the small island.  In 2008, he 
noted, Nevis spent $33.3 million on diesel fuel to generate 
electricity for the island.  Citing the instability of global 
oil markets and Nevis' 100 percent dependence on foreign oil, 
Powell insisted it was necessary to develop the geothermal 
resource for the security of the island.  According to 
Powell, Nevis will begin to utilize geothermal power by 
mid-2010.  Current geothermal exploration on Nevis is showing 
that, if only half the geothermal potential on Nevis is 
developed, there will still be substantial excess energy for 
export to neighboring islands. 
 
3. (U) In recent meetings with Poloff, the general manager of 
WIP, Kerry McDonald, has been optimistic about the 
development of geothermal power on Nevis.  After the success 
of the conference, McDonald is even more pleased with the 
enthusiastic backing by the NIA.  McDonald acknowledged that 
representatives from WIP recently presented the geothermal 
energy option to the congress of the United States Virgin 
Islands (USVI) and, according to McDonald, were received 
favorably. 
 
4. (U) Comment:  It is good to see that the Nevis Island 
Administration is behind the geothermal project, and they see 
the potential for their small island to benefit.  The first 
island to receive any excess energy will likely be St. Kitts 
due to its proximity, and several major tourism projects on 
St. Kitts have already expressed interest in tapping into any 
geothermally-generated electricity from Nevis (reftel).  Any 
sale of geothermal energy to the USVI, on 
the other hand, would require the installation of a roughly 
$500 million undersea cable from Nevis to the USVI, via 
Puerto Rico -- an ambitious undertaking that would likely be 
feasible only if Puerto Rico itself was also a beneficiary. 
NIA and WIP officials believe Nevis will be generating 
geothermal energy in 2010, however, every timeline announced 
to date has been pushed back six months to a year. 
HARDT