Leclanché is to build a combined solar power and lithium-ion battery storage facility for the two-island country of St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean.
The project, said to be the biggest of its kind in the Caribbean, will see a 35.6MW solar plant and 44MWh battery storage facility built adjacent to the City of Basseterre on St Kitts.
A Leclanché spokesperson told BEST Battery Briefing the storage facility would utilise graphite/NMC lithium-ion cells and be tested and assembled on the island to maximise local employment and training.
The project will cut the country’s reliance on diesel-generated capacity and is expected to provide 25-30% of the country’s existing power needs.
Leclanché will serve as the prime engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the installation of both the battery energy storage system and solar photovoltaic system.
The Switzerland-based battery storage firm has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with the state-owned St Kitts Electric Company.
Leclanché has also established a St Kitts special purpose vehicle along with local partner, Solrid, to fund, own and operate the facility.
St Kitts and Nevis public infrastructure minister Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd (pictured) said the project represented “a giant step forward in the government’s efforts to ensure a clean, safe and affordable energy future four our country”.
Bryan Urban, executive VP and head of Leclanché’s Stationary Business Unit, said: “The cost of this project to St Kitts and Nevis citizens is zero. It is being fully paid-for over 20 years through the savings created by the switch to clean and reliable solar energy.“
Ground-breaking for the project is scheduled for mid-October 2019 with an anticipated completion date of September 2020.
