South Korean Firm Eyeing Green Investment In St Lucia

Two years ago I wrote about the moves that the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia was in talks with Qualibou Energy to launch a geothermal power project. Not much news about the initiative has been made in the past year and a half, but St. Lucia is still determined to harvest its vast potential resource of clean energy. Now a firm in South Korea could be interested in investing in a similar project.

Geothermal energy has long been touted as a potential game changer for the Caribbean Islands' energy needs, but so far the quest for energy independence in this region is one that is largely on hold. The island of Dominica is exploring the possibility of achieving a carbon negative economy by 2020, and geothermal energy is also part of that small nation's overall plan. But so far a geothermal plant is described by more hopes and could have instead of concrete definite plans.

Enter Korea East West Power, a subsidiary of KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation), which is interested in such a geothermal project in St. Lucia. Foreign Minister Alva Baptiste recently gave a presentation about St. Lucia's goals during his recent visit to Korea, but no agreement or MOU has yet been signed.

For the Caribbean, clean energy would help give these small and volatile economies a lift. The vast majority of energy, of course, is imported, and most of it is dirty diesel fuel. Electricity is an expensive proposition in these economies, and is too pricy for most citizens in this region who are already struggling as they try to make ends meet. The key, however, is massive sums of investment. The promise of geothermal is still clouded by too many questions marks and not enough action.