Known as the “Helen of the West Indies,” for its natural beauty, St. Lucia has long been a prime tourist spot. However, under the leadership of its dynamic Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony, St. Lucia is seeking another distinction as the world's first Sustainable Energy Demonstration Country – a move from fossil fuels toward renewable energy and progressive energy efficiency technologies and measures.

In March 2001, the St. Lucian government approved a comprehensive 10-year national Sustainable Energy Plan to move forward its ambitious goals. Developed by the Sustainable Energy Office in its Ministry of Planning, Development, Environment and Housing with help from the Climate Institute and the Organization of American States (OAS), the plan was also shaped by extensive stakeholder input from such crucial interests as the hotel industry, a major user of energy, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), LUCELEC (the electric utility), and other businesses. Although this plan does not phase out CO2 emissions, it takes impressive strides in that direction, aiming for a 35 % cut in greenhouse emissions from business-as-usual projections by 2010.

GSEII Projects in St. Lucia

Completed:

Energy Efficient Lighting Project

The Climate Institute arranged, with the help of Climate Care of the United Kingdom, for the distribution of 6,000 energy efficient bulbs by the St. Lucian Ministry of Planning. The compact fluorescents are an energy-efficient 15 watts, versus the typical 60-100W bulbs used. The installation of energy efficient lighting mitigates the demand for fossil-fueled energy, thus saving St. Lucians on their energy bills, as well as lessening burden on the climate.

 

Energy Audits & Training Project for Hotel Industry

On February 11, 12 and 13, 2004, a series of training workshops and audits in energy management for the Hospitality sector was conducted in the Castries and Rodney Bay areas in St. Lucia. This training was part of a project being undertaken by Lewis Engineering Inc., Marbek Resource Consultants, Inc., and the St. Lucia Ministry of Physical Development, Environment, and Housing, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through enhancing energy efficiency in the hospitality sector. This project was made possible due to the support of the Climate Change Development Fund of the Canadian International Development Agency.

The primary intention of this training program was to increase awareness of energy management opportunities among members of the hospitality industry and key stakeholder groups such as government, colleges, utilities, and the local consulting community. Bringing together representatives from a cross-section of key stakeholder groups with an interest in energy management fostered sharing of ideas and experiences among the group and let all attendees know what resources are available locally to assist with their energy management needs. A longer term goal of this project is to develop continuity in the energy management training field by supporting the development of a training host in St. Lucia.

Summary Report, April 2004 (PDF, 76 KB)

Energy Efficiency and Renewables Awareness Campaign- Energy Week 2004

December 6th to 10th, 2004 was Energy Awareness Week in St. Lucia, under the theme, “A Vision for St. Lucia's Energy Future.”  The Energy Week was co-sponsored by the GSEII in addition to local private sector. This was the second year that St. Lucia organized an Energy Week, the first having been in January, 2003.

The Minister for Physical Development, Environment & Housing, Honorable Ferguson John, formally opened the week with an address that was broadcast on radio and television at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday December 5th. An energy supplement was also placed in the local newspaper. The supplement focused on interagency, local, and regional energy initiatives, opportunities for energy management in the electricity and transportation sectors and safety.

The marquee event for Energy Awareness Week was an Energy Exhibition and school project competition run from December 7th to 9th, at the Castries City Hall. As part of the energy exhibition, an inter-secondary school science competition was held; the interest was high and there were about 50 young participants with 10 projects.

More Energy Week Photos

This week was an important step in St. Lucia’s progress toward achieving an economy dependent on clean and green fuel alternatives. It helped facilitate development of a solid energy policy for St. Lucia and was also instrumental in projecting St. Lucia as a country with a bright future in the field of alternative fuel technologies.

In Progress:

LUCELEC Point de Caille 4.25 MW Wind Farm

The eastern side of the island of St. Lucia is well-known for the strong prevailing winds that are present most of the year. The Government of St. Lucia and the local utility, LUCELEC, have shown interest for some time in the potential development of a wind farm on the island. Several sites have been studied over time, suggesting that there is a wind resource available. A site on the southeastern part of the island, one of the few relatively flat areas suitable for wind farm development in St. Lucia, Point de Caille, is undergoing analysis to assess the pre-feasibility aspects of a potential wind farm in the area.

LUCELEC intends to apply for planning permission to operate a wind farm at this site. The project will likely be constructed in a staged manner, with two turbines initially installed as demonstration units. After testing the technical, financial, and operational aspects (related to dispatch ability of wind power in the local grid), further capacity additions are planned to be incorporated into the wind farm in order to reach the target installed capacity of around 4,250 KW.

St. Lucia Ciceron Landfill Gas to Energy Project

The Ciceron landfill in St. Lucia closed at the beginning of 2003 after more than 11 years of operation. The landfill was internationally acclaimed for its technical operations as well as for procedures employed in its technical closure. St. Lucia solid waste management authorities are interested in exploiting the electricity generation potential of the site at Ciceron, in order to generate electricity that could be fed to the electricity grid, assisting sustainable energy development on the island.

The proposed project would be the first of its kind in the Caribbean island states, representing a premier opportunity for the transfer and installation of such technologies. Also, the project aims at recognition through the marketing of certified emission reductions under the Clean Development Mechanism as part of the Kyoto Protocol for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Ciceron Project will be using methane generated in the Ciceron Landfill in order to generate up to 400 KW of power to be integrated in the electricity grid of St. Lucia. Estimations of methane production at the site will be very important if consideration is to be given to potential validation of a landfill gas-to-energy project under the provisions of the Kyoto Clean Development Mechanism.

Collecting and burning the methane would lead to total estimated methane avoidance from the proposed project on the order of 8,713.6 tons CO2 equivalent/average year. Such reductions could in principle be claimed as avoided emissions if a landfill gas-to-energy plant is installed at the site, therefore mitigating emissions that would have happened from the landfill in the absence of a climate change mitigation project (such as the one proposed).

The UNIDO-GSEII team successfully completed the pre-feasibility study for this project in the spring of 2005. Further planning is currently being undertaken for the development of the Landfill Gas to Energy Project in St. Lucia.

Poultry Litter to Energy Project

Many small and rural enterprises in St. Lucia are feeling the high cost of electricity as part of their production costs. Potential utilization of different types of biomass or waste products from production processes presents an interesting proposition for business managers in the country. Sub-products like poultry litter can have a small but relevant contribution to end-use energy for process heat as well as for small captive power generation.

The project is to be hosted by Fresh Eggs, Ltd., a local producer of eggs, located in the Laborie area of southern St. Lucia. The production facility at Laborie houses 11,000 laying hens, producing year round, housed at a single building where production takes place. The project considers the use of poultry litter to generate captive power that will substitute grid electricity in the facility. To a lesser extent, but still important, is the possibility of obtaining process heat for a small chicken nursery to be implemented in increasing the volume of production.

Supposing 24-hour a day use of electricity at the site, in order to supply the chiller and other uses of electricity, the power capacity of the proposed plant in St. Lucia would be in the range from around 7-11 kW.

Unfortunately, a feasibility analysis completed in March 2005 proved that this project would not be economically viable.

GSEII Events in St. Lucia

April 2006. St. Lucia Energy Policy Stakeholders Meeting

September 2005. Caribbean Solar Financing Program Training Session

 

 

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