Watt about the Windward Islands?
I would admit that I had a smile on my face, when I learned that the chain of island nations, the Windward Islands (Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent , Grenada) have the strongest wind resource in the Caribbean. I've always felt the breeze when I lived home in St. Vincent. But why is this that so? What are their plans to maximize this resource?
Seems like that the currents from west Africa flow directly into these islands, creating channels of airflow that make sailing much easier. In the days of Columbus, they were know as Tradewinds. Today, the Ministries of Energy in each nation plan to get to 35% renewable energy production by 2020. Their primary drivers for said goals are to create jobs and to protect the vulnerability of the shorelines. According to IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency), rising sea levels is a phenomena faced by many islands nations across the globe. I've seen up-close the erosion of Caribbean beaches over the last 20 years.
However the cost of electricity prices affected by the geo-politics of Venezuela influence seem to be the main drivers of such ambitious goals. The windward island as well as other nearby countries is dependent Venezuela low cost oil. For example, the 2015 electricity rates in Saint Lucia are $0.34 per kilowatt-hour. Like many island nations, Saint Lucia is almost 100% reliant on imported fossil fuels for electricity generation, leaving it vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations that directly impact the cost of electricity. Saint Lucia has begin utilizing energy efforts to help decrease overall losses for the electrical system and reduce the amount of power that must be generated to meet the island’s electrical load:
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