29 May 2020
Connect Saint Helena Ltd (Connect) has today signed a Power Purchase Agreement with PASH Global to provide wind turbine, solar power and battery storage capacity to St Helena, significantly increasing the amount of renewable energy capacity on the Island and resulting in the majority of the Island’s energy needs being met by renewable sources.
Councillor Russell Yon said:
“The signing of this contract is a giant step forward for St Helena in delivering the priorities of the SHG Energy Strategy which is to provide green and efficient products that will contribute to reduced energy costs to the consumer in the future and also decrease the Island’s reliability on fossil fuel thus supporting the SHG Climate Change Policy. It has been a long arduous process and all involved should be congratulated.”
Due to the time that has passed since the preferred bidder was announced, it was agreed that PASH Global would undertake both phase 1 and 2 of their proposal in tandem, estimated to be delivered to the Island during the course of2021. This means that in the first instance they will be providing a full 568kWp/ 500kW solar farm; 2.7MW wind farm made up of three turbines; and a 3.2MWh/3.5MW Battery. This will generate at least 9.133 GWh per annum.
Currently, Connect provides around 24% of the Island’s energy needs from renewable energy and, considering last year’s demand of 11.8GWh, we will potentially have enough renewable energy capacity to meet 100% of current demand.
The Project supports the aims of the Island’s Energy Strategy notably that ‘St Helena will increase the production of energy through renewable sources, and reduce the Island’s reliance on imported fuels, increase fuel security and price stabilisation’. It will also support the 10-Year Plan’s aim to ‘Invest in renewable energy with a view to becoming 100% self-sufficient’ and supports the Sustainable Economic Development Plan by ‘increasing the amount of renewable energy on-Island, reducing reliance on diesel and encouraging improvement of distribution networks required to avoid significant increases in energy costs in the future’. This demonstrates St Helena’s commitment to the environment and sees the Island as a global leader in renewable technology.
It is important to note that renewable energy is not free although renewable energy does displace a significant cost (diesel) which allows Connect to reduce operating costs.
Development Permission has already been granted to locate the wind turbines on Deadwood Plain and solar panels to be located adjacent to the existing solar site at the Rifle Range, Ladder Hill.
CEO of Connect, Barry Hubbard, said:
“The process to move from preferred bidder status to a signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has taken much more time than anyone had envisaged. However, with a larger initial deployment we will become a world leader in renewable energy as soon as the initial deployment can be successfully commissioned. We have broken new ground in securing significant private investment without needing to provide upfront capital and we will break new ground again once the Project is successfully commissioned with a massive renewable contribution.”
SHG’s Chief Economist, Nicole Shamier, added:
“St Helena will join Hawaii’s Kauai Island, Denmark’s Samso Island, Tokelau Island and a small number of other Small Island States who have achieved enough renewable energy capacity to deliver over 90% of demand at any one time. Through this contract St Helena can stand up as an exemplar of Green Growth amongst the British Overseas Territories, and be proud to be on track to meet the goals of St Helena’s Energy Strategy. A huge thank you to the Connect and Evershed’s Teams, and members of SHG’s Procurement, Finance and Attorney General’s Chambers for assisting the contract development process. This project is a huge step for the Island to delivering the largest private investment on St Helena at the present time.”
PASH Global founders, Kofi Owusu Bempah and Vine Mwense, concluded:
“We are honoured to be selected to partner the St Helena Government and Connect to provide an innovative power solution to deliver the lowest cost of power to St Helena and enable the transition towards a net zero emissions target. St Helena now joins a number of islands taking practical action to tackle climate change. The Project will not only save over 150,000 metric tons of carbon emissions over its useful life, it will also provide St Helena with security of electricity supply from a unique hybrid of renewable sources. In the midst of these challenging times, the signing of the Contract with Connect represents a significant milestone of which we are proud.”
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SHG/Connect Saint Helena Ltd
29 May 2020