In 2010, the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), issued a request for development of an Energy Conservation Policy and Implementation Strategy. The government also wished to address the potential for developing renewable energy resources to further reduce TCI’s dependence on fossil-fuel generation. Castalia Strategic Advisors (“Castalia”) was selected by the government to undertake these tasks. On 25 February 2011, Castalia issued a Draft Final Report, which included an assessment of renewable energy technologies that may be commercially and economically viable for TCI. The Castalia Report concluded that a number of renewable technologies were potentially viable, including landfill gas, solar hot water heat, wind turbines, and waste incineration.
In light of the Castalia Report’s finding, Continental Economics, Inc., was engaged by PPC, Ltd. (“PPC”) to prepare an independent assessment of the overall reasonableness of the Castalia Report findings, and to address some of the more detailed regulatory, engineering, technical, and policy issues that must be addressed before economically viable renewable resource development can take place.
PPC did not ask Continental Economics to “rebut” the Castalia Report findings, which provides a good general overview of energy efficiency and renewable generating resources. Rather, the company requested that we evaluate the Castalia Report findings in light of the “details” that must be addressed when actual renewable resource development is undertaken. Our analysis included review of available data of the wind and solar resources available to TCI, physical inspection of PPC’s transmission and distribution systems to evaluate the effects of renewable resources on system reliability, and consideration of the current regulatory framework under which PPC operates. Our report provides a “roadmap” that sets forth the economic, engineering and, especially, regulatory areas that must be addressed if renewable energy resources are to be developed successfully on TCI.TERMS OF REFERENCE GEF Funded Program of Work on Protected Areas Project (GEF PoWPA) (156)