One-third of electricity renewable on Caribbean islands

© Hollandse Hoogte / Rob Brouwer
In 2018, the Caribbean Netherlands produced 136 million kWh of electricity. Of this amount, 45.1 million kWh came from renewable sources, equivalent to 33 percent of total electricity production. Production levels on the three islands were just as high as in 2017, but a larger part has been produced sustainably. This is evident from new figures on electricity production in the Caribbean Netherlands.

Bonaire: mainly wind energy

Electricity production on Bonaire amounted to 113.1 million kWh in 2018. 37.1 million kWh (32.8 percent) was generated in a sustainable way. 99 percent of renewable electricity comes from wind turbines while 1 percent is generated by solar panels. In 2014, the share of renewable electricity was still 42.3 percent, but it seems to have stabilised around 30 percent since then.

St Eustatius: 1 solar park

In 2018, total electricity production on St Eustatius stood at 14.3 million kWh, of which 6.5 million kWh (45.5 percent) was renewable and produced by solar panels. The generation of solar power started in 2016 with the installation of a solar park, which was expanded significantly in 2017. In the daytime, the solar park meets the full electricity demand, while in the evening and at night diesel generators take care of electricity production. In case of unfavourable weather conditions during the day, e.g. overcast weather, the system automatically switches to the diesel generators which take over the production.

Saba: 2 solar parks

Total electricity production on Saba stood at 9.0 million kWh in 2018. 1.5 million kWh was generated sustainably, i.e. 16.7 percent of total production. Saba boasts two solar parks. The first one started operations in February 2018 with a production capacity of 1.14 megawatt-peak (MWp). In February 2019, the second solar park became operational with a capacity of 1 MWp. With the second solar park, Saba can almost double renewable electricity production over 2019.

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