Premier Andrew Fahie announced this news during his 2021 budget presentation on November 12.

“One of these developers is awaiting a revised Green Energy License to be issued by the Government of the Virgin Islands in order to progress the development of their project,” he stated.

The Premier said the completion of all these and other projects will ensure the government meets its target of having 30 percent of its electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2023.

He said two pieces of legislation - the BVI Electricity Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2015 and the BVI Electricity Corporation (Renewable Energy) Regulations 2018 - have provided the legal framework to advance the subject of renewable energy in the BVI.

Since the enactment of these laws, Premier Fahie said the BVIEC has processed four consumer-generator Small Scale Renewable Energy Interconnection applications.

The Anegada Renewable Energy project

Back in June this year, BVIEC awarded the Anegada Hybrid Renewable Energy & Battery Energy Storage System Project to a US company called Power52 Clean Energy Access.

The system will comprise of one MegaWatt of solar PV panels and 4,078 kilowatt-hours of battery energy storage.

The government said this project is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2021 and is projected to reduce Anegada’s dependence on fossil fuels by 95 percent.

Territory’s transmission infrastructure going underground

In the meantime, Premier Fahie said in early 2021, BVIEC and its international and regional industry partners intend to continue its thorough analysis to place the territory’s transmission infrastructure underground.

He said an underground transmission system and other infrastructural improvements will “add much-needed energy resilience to essential services in the Paraquita Bay area”.

The Premier said some of the essential services to be impacted include water production, sewerage treatment, and operations at the H Lavity Stoutt Community College.