SKN’s Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew and Premier of Nevis, Hon. Dr. Mark Brantley, issued a joint statement on Feb. 10^th, giving an update about the Federation’s Geothermal Project. On Nov. 20^th 2023, the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis passed a Resolution on the development of geothermal energy as a national priority, which received the unanimous support of parliamentarians.

The Federal government since that time, has worked closely with the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) to develop the geothermal resource on Nevis. The Federation secured some US$17 million from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for the drilling phase of the geothermal project. Then it approached the Saudi Fund for Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeking loan funding in the sum of US$20 million to further support the project.

According to the statement, “the Saudi Fund for Development has now confirmed that its Board has approved the requested funding on concessionary terms.” The statement mentioned “this means that the drilling phase can proceed as soon as the bidding process is completed.”

In expressing St. Kitts and Nevis’ gratitude to the Saudi Fund for Development and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the leaders renewed the commitment of harnessing geothermal energy as an important pillar of its thrust to transform the energy sector.