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~ The Leeward Islands Geothermal and Digital Interconnexion Hub Project and it’s benefits to Country Sint Maarten/St Martin ~

From our French-side correspondentMARIGOT — The Geothermal and Digital Interconnexion Hub Project for Leeward Islands is a project that is co-finance by the European funding agency Interreg Caraibes. As of 2022, the project is in the pre-feasibility stage with a total available budget of 2.9 million euros to be used before December 2023.

The pre-feasibility stage examines the potential for geothermal energy within the Leeward Islands and an inter-island digital network public partnership.

“Thus far, the heads of governments of Sint Maarten/St. Martin, Anguilla, St Barths, Antiqua, Saba, Sint Eustatius and the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis  have expressed their political will for the goals of this project”, said Omar Morales who is the project lead of EU Funds at the Collective of Saint Martin.

The Overseas Collective of Saint Martin and Unite Caribbean[1] are co-project leads ensuring steering committees meetings, financial reporting to the donors and other management aspects of the project, in addition, the overseas collective of Saint Martin explores the digital inter–island connection pre-feasibility as it observes studies of network and economic research, technical assistance needed and a governance road map.

Photo caption: Bouillante Geothermal Plant in Guadeloupe.

Teranov is a French-based company that focuses on the development of geothermal energy in the Latin and Caribbean Region.[2] This company is responsible for the preliminary assessment of the geothermal resource in the islands of Saba, St Eustatius and St Kitts. On the other hand, EDF[3] which is based in Guadeloupe is responsible for the electrical interconnection pre-feasibility study, in particular, research in Geochemistry, Geology and Geo Physics.

“In regards to European Union trans-border funding agencies such as Interreg Caraibes; it’s vital that Governmental Institutions, Non-Profit Organizations and private entities focus on the development of a multi-disciplinary team that has the same common goal. This multi-disciplinary team is comprised of industry experts and in-country partners to research, design and implement such a regional project,” Omar Morales explained.

After, the prefeasibility stage, the project further goes into the feasibility and geothermal plant constructions and digital connection of fiber optics between the territorial partners. The financing of these stages ought to be determine. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is seen as a viable co-funding option, according to Omar Morales.

Sint Maarten’s Government and utility company has a big role to play in the redefining of the national energy landscape. The community should also be considered a key stakeholder. Geothermal energy has the distinction of having higher availability when compared to wind, solar and hydro forms of energy and can be delivered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is less vulnerable to hurricanes and high winds. It is arguably a viable option for Sint Maarten/St. Martin.

Imagine, a Sint Maarten experiencing a category 5 hurricane as IRMA again with a public partnership agreement with the Leeward Islands in providing geothermal energy; we can experience less intermittent energy or even load shedding. Through, geothermal energy we will become a more resilient country. Depending solely on fossil fuels and its unpredictable costs will only further worsen our overall quality of life.

On the other hand, there is a potential business model for geothermal energy. The tourism sector is one of the largest consumers of energy. The Government of Sint Maarten, for instance, can sell energy to the cruise ships at the dock. The plug in and pay business model provides cruise ships with other energy source from which government can receive a payment. It’s a win-win situation. There is economic growth relationship with geothermal energy as it can provide a competitive advantage for a country’s economy.

Furthermore, an inter-island partnership agreement for geothermal energy and a digital fiber optic ecosystem has the potential to bring down energy cost and internet cost as the expense can be spread across all territorial partners. “Developmental projects such as the Leeward Island Geothermal and Digital Interconnexion Hub Project can provide countries with economies of scale. Hence, it is vital to ensure that key stakeholders are fully engaged in all phases of this project as means to obtain milestones for resilience, other sources of energy and improved digital ecosystems,“ Omar Morales said.

As a country, we need to advocate for the potential of Geothermal Energy and digital inter-island connection in country Sint Maarten by questioning our members of parliament and future politicians. The cost of living is going up and we need to improve our quality of life. We cannot miss out on such an opportunity for our country. The opportunity is here and now.

[1] https://unite-caribbean.com/en/

[2] Accueil (teranov.com)

[3] Accueil EDF Guadeloupe EDF Guadeloupe

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See related articles in our EDF archives

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The Institute of Coding — a joint venture between the Amber Group and the Heart NSTA Trust — is encouraging youngsters to apply for the October intake.

The residential programme will expose participants to intense training in world-class coding to design and build software applications to meet the needs of several sectors and to help simplify business transactions, according to a release from the Amber Group.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Amber Group of Companies and software and coding pioneer in the Caribbean, Dushyant Savadia, says the company is pleased to launch the first-ever coding institute in Jamaica on October 1 with an initial cohort of 500 students.

Savadia outlined that the group’s “long-term vision is to train 20,000 Jamaicans to be engaged as software developers over the next five years”.

In June, Amber Heart Academy graduated an initial cohort of 100 participants as part of a pilot project. The graduates were placed with several corporate entities to build software and join their tech teams.

The Institute of Coding, which will be in full operation in October, will offer spaces to 200 students who’ll commute to the campus and 300 who’ll be in residence.

Making an impassioned plea for an increased emphasis on skill-based training, Savadia emphasised that skills training, such as those provided by the Amber Heart Institute of Coding, was designed to provide trainees with the knowledge and abilities necessary to be successful in today’s job market.

“We, as businesses, need to provide these hardworking skilled persons with opportunities to work and grow,” the Amber Group CEO declared.

Already, two of Jamaica’s largest companies, Digicel and NCB, have moved to hire 27 of the graduates from the pilot programme. Government agencies have also committed to follow suit in short order. Savadia said this will boost Jamaica’s economy with more employment of persons with tangible technology expertise.

In June, during the graduation ceremony of the students from the pilot programme, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, lauded the initiative, noting: “This form of education is open and inclusive. It is not only for the elite, it is for everyone.” He said he was encouraged by the results of the initiative and is hoping that it will be one of many to come.

Holness has also commended the Amber Group and urged companies to hire skilled people who did not have degrees but who were competent and knowledgeable.

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Consumers will be paying less for gasoline and diesel from Friday, August 19, 2022.

Gasoline will be reduced from $4.83 to $4.48 per litre, while diesel will be priced at $4.03 as opposed to $4.28 per litre.

This was announced by Prime Minister The Honorable Mia Amor Mottley during a press conference held today Monday, August 15.

Prime Minister Mottley revealed that firstly the price cap of Value Added Tax [VAT] which allows the government to absorb around 22 cents for gasoline and 26 cents for diesel [per litre] will stay in effect until January 31, 2023, to allow Barbadians to be shielded more.

“My first obligation in speaking to you this afternoon is to be able to indicate what the position of the government will be going forward with respect to the cap of the value added tax that we placed on fuel items, gasoline, and diesel to be specific. We’re satisfied that we’re going to have to keep that cap in place. That cap, for example, has made the difference of 26 cents I believe on diesel so if that cap was not there, the diesel price would be 26 cents per litre more and I believe it is 22 cents with respect to gasoline. We are going to extend that cap at least until the 31st of January and we are doing that recognising that Barbadians do need to be shielded some more.

“The truth, however, is that that cap in and of itself is not necessarily proving to be enough. While things are difficult even for the government, we feel that we have an obligation to shield Barbadians more. We’ve looked around at the prices and we’ve looked around at what we can do and we’ve made a determination as a government.”

In this vein, the Prime Minister also disclosed that government will bite the bullet and shoulder the loss to lower the prices of gasoline and diesel at the pump from this week.

“You would recognize that this is not the government’s first attempt at obviously trying to shield Barbadians the best we can and we believe that this therefore will allow us to do that. There has been a decline in prices so we’re not capping at the highest possible price, the truth is that the $4.83 at the pump that you’re paying now for gasoline is at a far higher price than what is currently available and to that extent, we will absorb the loss on that because those prices were to remained in place until the end of January.

“Since then there was a shipment that came in at lesser and we believe we have to cap it at the lesser amount and therefore with effect from Friday morning, we will have the price of gasoline at the pump capped at the price of $4.48 per litre and with respect to diesel at $4.03 per litre.”

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Het vlot helemaal niet met de herschikking van een deel van de miljardenschulden die Suriname heeft. Vooral de bondholders van

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