by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN)—St. Kitts and Nevis continues to charge forward to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and increase reliance on renewables, as the volatility of the global fuel market remains ever-present.
Castalia (acting as the transaction advisor) helped facilitate the state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage project in the Royal Basseterre Valley National Park.
The solar generation and large-scale lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) designed and managed by SKELEC is expected to supply over 30% of the island’s electricity demand.
The climate resilience of the solar farm projects is pivotal in the face of worsening climatic events.
While the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season is predicted to be below average, one category five storm is enough to severely damage infrastructure, livelihoods, and the economy of a Small Island Developing State like St. Kitts and Nevis.
Resiliency is key to withstanding intense Caribbean hurricanes and eliminating volatile fossil fuel dependencies.
Minister of Infrastructure, et al., Hon. Konris Maynard, during a press conference on June 15, 2026, said that resiliency was built into the request for proposal for the project.
“Part of the requirement of the RFP is to build a system that can withstand a category 5 hurricane. So the requirements are specifically listed in the RFP. Obviously, Jamaica recently had one. So all of these experiences will play into the development of this particular system. My concern won’t be necessarily for the battery energy storage systems. Those are actually going to be quite resilient to any level of storm, just because of their form factor. The main concern, of course, will be the panels. But the panels themselves, ordinarily, are not usually the challenge. It is a structure that holds the panel. And so I think that there are going to be stringent requirements of what that structure would meet, or there are stringent requirements of what that structure needs to be to ensure that, at the very least, we can withstand a category 5 hurricane.”
Clement Williams, the General Manager of the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC), explained some of the details in the request for proposals that address the need for resiliency in the project’s buildout.
“With respect to the standards, there is an entire annex in the RFP specific to the construction details that have to be adhered to to maintain a Category 5 resistance for the solar panels. Our consultant, Castalia, has done similar projects all over the world. And they have ensured that the data in the annexes are very secure. And once the contractors follow these procedures, then we have nothing to worry about. The solar modules will be able to go through the Cat 5.”
While plans can be made to account for resiliency, the dynamic nature of storms and the rapid intensification seen over the past decade cannot negate the probability of damage completely.
“Obviously, this always comes with a caveat, because these are storm winds that we simply cannot fully predict. While you may have a rating for 165 miles sustained winds, the storms continue to increase in intensity, leading to maybe even higher sometimes that we simply do not know.”
True energy grid resilience requires backup and redundancies.
While the operationalisation of a Geothermal plant is still some time away, funds have been secured, and the procurement for the facility is the next step.
“With respect to geothermal funding, that remains the same, which is the CDB $17 million funding arrangement, $16 million being for the drilling purposes, and $1 million being for the technical assistance. And then the access to funding from the Saudi fund, which will come after the funds from the CDB are exhausted. The agreement for the drilling, I think, has been reached and signed. And so now they’re working through the mobilisation of getting that project started. So the funding still exists for the project that has been procured. What’s next now is developing the procurement process for the development of the actual plant to produce the energy. Those figures have not been finalised. That procurement has not been finalised. But obviously, we do have some time before we get to the development of the plant itself.”
To complement the solar network, the expectation is that the geothermal energy facility on Nevis, once operationalised, will help carry some of the energy load, creating a fully redundant, multi-source renewable system capable of powering the entire Federation continuously, moving the islands toward the goal of becoming a 100% Sustainable Island State.
