'Road map' presented to break V.I.'s dependence on oil

ST. CROIX - As the LEAC rises, so does the level of concern and hardship for local residents and businesses. And while there has been widespread public discontent over what is perceived as governmental inaction to change the problem, a large group of people dedicated to revamping the Virgin Islands' electrical systems met Thursday and outlined their plan.

The idea behind the Energy Development in Island Nations-USVI "road map," as the plan is being called, is to reduce the amount of oil the V.I. Water and Power Authority uses to provide electricity by 60 percent by 2025, said V.I. Energy Office Director Karl Knight. The goal was established by Gov. John deJongh Jr. after consulting with the National Renewable Energy Laboratories, which operates under the U.S. Energy Department.

While the 60 percent reduction sounds ambitious, it is not expected to come solely by installing renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, wind turbines or waste-to-energy plants, Knight said.

"A portion of that will come from renewable energy," Knight said, "but a portion of that could be reduced simply by using less energy."

The two-pronged approach, "conserve and convert," is at the heart of the Energy Development in Island Nations - EDIN - road map, speakers said.

And while the road map is being implemented in the Virgin Islands, neighbors from all over the region are anxiously watching, hoping for a template to base their own solutions upon.

Island nations throughout the Caribbean are grappling with the same volatile commodity to produce their electricity, said WAPA Board Member Gerry Groner, who also is helping lead the EDIN-USVI renewable energy working group. That commodity is oil. It is also at the root of the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause - LEAC - that many blame for their high WAPA power bills.

But the LEAC is not going anywhere, Knight said.

"As long as you have fuel to produce energy, there's a LEAC," he said. The key to a low LEAC is to reduce the amount of fuel used and to convert to cheaper fuel. The EDIN road map addresses both of those areas, he said.

By promoting public and private conversion to utilizing renewable energy methods and educating the public on how to utilize energy more efficiently, WAPA will have a lower baseload, he said.

"It's everyone doing their part," Knight said. "The less energy they use, the less oil WAPA has to burn."

WAPA is looking to do its part, as well, and one primary example of that would be the conversion of its oil-burning turbines into natural gas-burning turbines, Knight said.

WAPA Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr., who is co-directing the EDIN-USVI project along with Knight, recently told The Daily News it was in the process of assessing the viability of such a move.

Natural Gas is considerably less expensive than oil and a cleaner method of producing electricity. With natural gas terminals in Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago, the conversion appears feasible, Knight said.

In addition, WAPA is looking into solar and wind projects, a waste-to-energy power plant and the interconnection with Puerto Rico, Knight said.

The interconnection with Puerto Rico also would offer WAPA access to an electrical grid, so that if it was unable to meet its baseload, it could draw from there, officials said. WAPA electrical engineer Cordell Jacobs Jr. said the study has found the interconnection feasible, and now an additional component is being looked at: how renewable energy will affect the system. They are in the process of drafting the report, he said.

And WAPA recently put out a request for proposal to create two solar power production sites - one on St. Thomas and another on St. Croix - that officials are expecting to produce 10 megawatts of power, said WAPA Board Chairwoman Juanita Young.

But solar power will provide only a small fraction of the power - about 1 percent of overall production, according to the road map. The recent solar project at Cyril King Airport on St. Thomas produces 451 kilowatts, which is significant in offsetting V.I. Port Authority energy costs, but a drop in the bucket of the overall territory's needs.

Renewable sources are expected to reduce oil dependence by anywhere from 28 to 43 percent, Groner said. The road map placed the goal at 22 percent.

"The 60 percent reduction, of that, a little over a third of that comes from renewable energy," he said. The renewable category also includes the solar water heater program, wind power, waste-to-energy, biomass and landfill gas.

Energy efficiency is expected to account for about 38 percent of the reduction, according to the road map.

Of the renewable energy sources, the Alpine waste-to-energy power plant accounts for the largest chunk - about 8 percent, according to the road map. V.I. Waste Management Authority Chief Engineer James Grum said the project is based around a 16.5 megawatt waste-to-energy plant that would also solve the problem of dealing with 500 tons of solid waste daily. The landfills, which both are in the process of being closed, will also produce a gas that will be burnt to produce energy, he said.

With a large chunk of the reduction tied into efficiently using power, educating the public is a key element, said Quality Electric Supply General Manager Kimberly McCollum, who is spearheading the EDIN-USVI energy efficiency working group.

"We all have to be stakeholders," she said. "We all have to work toward our goals together."

Part of the efficiency work already has taken place: About 85 percent of public schools have been retrofitted, which is expected to save the V.I. government about $1 million annually. By expanding the same idea throughout the government, it could account for more than 20 percent of the necessary reductions.

Knight said the process is moving forward. The road map is in place - "though we're finely tuning it every day," he said.

"We are in the implementation stage," he said. "We're putting the plan into effect."

- Contact Daniel Shea at 774-8772 ext. 457 or email dshea@dailynews.vi.

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