St. Kitts and Nevis looks at solar energy for sustainable development

Members of the St. Kitts and Nevis (left to right), Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Mrs. Hilary Hazel; Resident St. Kitts and Nevis Ambassador in Taiwan, Her Excellency Ms. Jasmine Huggins; Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and Motech’s Kevin Tseng

TAIPEI, TAIWAN, MARCH 8TH (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis is utilizing the visit to the Republic of China (Taiwan) by Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas and Minister of Energy, Hon. Dr. Earl Asim Martin to “learn from countries, institutions and companies that have developed best practices which for their own development have followed a similar path.”

“We would want to explore the possibilities – having seen and learn what your own company has done as a pioneer – and how one can develop a particular project model that we can present to one of our international development partners or donor countries and see if they can find the necessary assistance using the models that you seem to be espousing and bring St. Kitts and Nevis in a new path of development,” said Prime Minister Douglas on Tuesday following a visit to Motech Industries Inc., the largest solar cell manufacturer in Taiwan and one of the top 10 manufacturers worldwide in terms of production capacity and output.

“We are talking at the moment of utilizing as much as possible, renewable energy and your company, Motech Industries Inc., is one of the leading companies in Taiwan that is pursuing development utilizing renewable energy sources, especially solar energy. We believe that from the experiences that you have, St. Kitts and Nevis can begin to look at your models, your practices and see how we can become adopted in our own country to assist in our sustainable development,” Prime Minister Douglas told company officials following a presentation and discussions.

Members of the St. Kitts and Nevis delegation listen to presentation – (left to right) Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Mrs. Hilary Hazel; Resident St. Kitts and Nevis Ambassador in Taiwan, Her Excellency Ms. Jasmine Huggins; Chief Secretary, Mr. Joseph Edmeade; Minister of Energy, Hon. Dr. Earl Asim Martin; Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas; Taiwan’s Resident Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis His Excellency Miguel Li-jey Tsao and Mrs. Tsao and Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry official, Diann-wen Tang

Dr. Douglas said St. Kitts and Nevis is looking at the type of development that is environmentally conscious.

“We are here to learn from your experiences and how they can assist us in our own development,” said Dr. Douglas.

President of Motech Industries, Inc, Mr. Luke Chang, said the company is willing to train the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, provide equipment and other needs as in the 10 to 25 years solar energy will be the main energy provider.

The company’s success stories are to be found in the Marshall Islands where there are solar home and power systems; solar lighting and solar power grid connected systems in the South Pacific at Palau Hospital ; a solar-powered Information Community Center in Samoa, a 10 kw on-grid PV system in the Solomon Islands and a 950 kw power plant in Taiwan.

The company has worldwide business operations in Taiwan, the United States, China and Japan.