An analysis of Grenada's power sector and energy resources: a role for renewable energy technologies?

Abstract

Presently, Grenada's power sector is fully dependent on fossil fuel imports for meeting the country's electricity demand. Electric utilities in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in general, face high cost of electricity generation due to diseconomies of scale in production, consumption and logistical aspects. Grenada's private power monopoly is no exception and the high cost of import dependent electricity generation places an increasing burden on economic development. In light of rapid technological and economic improvement of renewable energy technologies (RETs), the country's abundant sources of renewable energy should be harnessed. Benefits are envisaged to include lower electricity cost, better environmental performance and a safer and diversified supply of energy. However, barriers for shifting power production towards meaningful contributions from RETs exist, both in government and industry. This work analyses important economic interactions between the power sector and economic development, bringing to attention the importance of power sector reform. Further, present problems of integrating RETs into the grid, ranging from technical and regulatory issues to shareholder interest are investigated. A summary and analysis of past research into renewable sources of energy (RES) underscore the potential for power production from RETs in Grenada.