Basseterre, Saint Kitts—On February 20, 2013, A workshop was held in Basseterre, Saint Kitts, to share the results of a study that looks into the potential for building an electricity interconnection via submarine cables between the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis and Puerto Rico. Senior government officials, electricity utility representatives and other key energy stakeholders attended the event. Jeffrey Palermo of KEMA-DNV, the consulting firm commissioned to prepare the pre-feasibility study, presented the main technical and financial aspects of the proposed interconnections.

The Electrical Power Interconnection Pre-feasibility Study supported by the ECPA Caribbean Initiative concluded that interconnections between Saint Kitts and Nevis may be commercially viable and that the return on such an investment may be as short as two to three years. The potential interconnection between the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis and Puerto Rico, covering a distance of nearly 300 miles, also seems technically and financially feasible in the long term. In both cases the study assumes that the primary source of electricity to be transmitted via submarine cable is derived from geothermal power and other renewable sources. Prospects for regional electricity interconnections between and among other islands of the Eastern Caribbean were also discussed. On February 21, OAS officials traveled to Charlestown, Nevis, to meet with the Premier of Nevis, the Honorable Vance Amory, and Deputy Prime Minister, the Honorable Mark Brantley, to brief them on the outcomes, recommendations and conclusions of the pre-feasibility study.

The Electrical Power Interconnection Pre-feasibility Study is a component of the ongoing hemispheric ECPA initiative known as “Connecting the Americas 2022”. KEMA-DNV Energy Consultant led the analysis with technical input from the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and in close collaboration with senior technical staff from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the Saint Kitts Electric Utility (SKELEC) and the Nevis Electric Utility (NEVLEC).