Premier Brantley, Minister Maynard discuss Geothermal Project with SDF members

St Kitts and Nevis: Premier of Nevis Mark Brantley was honoured to welcome Minister of Energy Konris Maynard and members of the Saudi Development Fund to Nevis. The meeting aimed to discuss the development of the island's Geothermal Resources. Premier Brantley said that the meeting turned out to be highly productive as they moved resolutely forward on realising the geothermal potential of Nevis for the benefit of the country.

He added that the fact that the Saudi government has seen it fit to send a delegation here to look at this project underscores their commitment to bilateral relations.

"We look forward to this partnership and to realizing our renewable energy ambitions," outlined Mark Brantley.

Minister Geoffrey Hanley also said that the meeting for the marked discussions on partnership for the development of the Geothermal Resource on Nevis and the Electrical Grid interconnection between the two islands.

[caption id="attachment_67982" align="aligncenter" width="375"] Premier Mark Brantley with Minister Geoffrey Hanley on the island[/caption]

The meeting was attended by officials from NEVLEC, the Min of Environment in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), SKELEC, and the Ministries of Energy, Economic Development and Investment, and Environment & Climate Action in the Federal Government.

He added that this meeting took place following meetings on the sidelines of the CARICOM summit with Prime Minister Terrance Drew and Nevis Island Administration officials in Saudi Arabia in November 2023.

The Saudi Development Fund team visited the island to analyze first-hand the feasibility of the project and to meet with a number of key Government stakeholders as they map out the way forward to make Geothermal a reality.

[caption id="attachment_67981" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Saudi Development Fund members meeting officials in St Kitts and Nevis[/caption] Minister Konris Maynard reiterated his commitment and said that the Federal Government remains committed to facilitating in every possible way a pathway to energy independence with Geothermal Power as a key component of our overall Energy Mix.

The Energy Minister has also expressed his belief that the successful transition to the use of green energy is the single most important nexus in the Federation's pursuit of becoming a sustainable island state.

He said that green energy transition is one of the seven key pillars upon which the government of St Kitts and Nevis' Sustainable Island State Agenda is based. According to the Minister, this effort is to be led by the establishment of the largest solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage project in the Caribbean and the joint geothermal energy project being pursued in Nevis.