Training and testing underway for solar powered desalination plant in St Kitts

St Kitts and Nevis: The training and testing for the solar powered desalination plant is currently in full swing at the Canada Industrial Estate in St Kitts.  

The members of the St Kitts Water Services Department are currently receiving the training to operate and maintain the new plant. This marks a significant step towards the development of the project indicating a quick completion of the new plant.  

According to the information shared by the Minister of Public Infrastructure, Konris G M Maynard, the plant is expected to start operating in the next few weeks.  

He noted this project as a small drop in a big bucket of water that the island needs, and shed light on the new projects which are in queue for development. 

“Although this is only a small drop in the bucket of water we need, this training and practice is an excellent introduction for our staff as we look to commission the much larger 2 million gallon a day Desalination plant in the middle of 2025,” he said.  

According to the reports, the desalination plant will produce 70,000 gallons of water a day, which will act as a significant relief to the community members.  

Notably, the ground for this project was broken early this year in March and the official groundbreaking ceremony was attended by several members of the cabinet including Prime Minister Terrance Drew and Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Hanley.  

This project by the government of St Kitts and Nevis is in partnership with the United Arab Emirates and the federation under the UAE- CREF, UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund.  

According to the authorities, this initiative marks their overall agenda to provide more fresh drinking water for the people of St Kitts and Nevis.  

The government recently also broke ground for another Desalination project in July. The ground for this project was broken at C.A Paul Southwell Industrial Park. This plant holds a capacity of providing 60, 000 gallons of water everyday.  

This plant also marks the federation’s first ever public desalination plant and is expected to complete construction by next year.