U.S. Virgin Islands to Receive Two Biomass Energy Plants

The U.S. Virgin Islands consume more gas powered energy than the U.S. mainland. In an attempt to cut down on oil consumption, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority just signed two twenty-year power purchase agreements with Alpine Energy Group LLC. Additionally, the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority signed similar agreements with the energy company for solid waste management service.

The aim is to use waste accumulated by tourists to the Virgin Islands to generate the islands’ energy. Alpine Energy Group will build and manage two biomass energy plants to convert waste to energy for the residents of St. Thomas, St. John’s and St Croix islands.

Currently residents of the Virgin Islands rely on oil powered generators to provide electricity. However, the oil consumption for the islands has skyrocketed to an unsustainable amount. The two twenty year agreements with Alpine for waste to energy conversion are anticipated to cut down on oil powered energy consumption.

“These projects will play a major role in the future of power generation and waste management on St. Thomas/St. John and St. Croix by addressing waste management, electric capacity requirements, and energy costs. We are pleased and proud to have been chosen to help WMA and WAPA craft state-of-the art solutions to divert waste from landfills and offer fuel diversity for power generation,” said James Beach, Alpine’s president.

Both facilities will utilise virtually all of the municipal solid waste generated by the three islands to yield an expected 33 MW of electricity for St. Thomas and 16 MW of electricity for St. Croix.

The facilities will be constructed sometime in May 2010 and are expected to be operational by the end of 2012.

Thanks to renewableenergyworld.com for the above quote, for more information please view their website.