Grenada is constructing solar power arrays to generate electricity for a pair of planned reverse osmosis desalination plants on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
The $2.1 million project is being funded by the UK’s Department For International Development and the European Union Global Alliance for Climate Change programme. Grenada Electricity Services and Grenada’s National Water and Sewage Authority are assisting with the project.
The projects are also being supported by the Caricom Climate Change Centre. Mark Bynoe, an environmental economist with Caricom, is overseeing the project. He said both plants should be up and running by September although in the short term water distribution will be focused on the town of Hillsborough in Carriacou. In a statement, the government said “significant” progress was being made on the plants.
Carriacou’s plant will be set up on the location of the former desalination plant in Seaview.
Petite Martnique and Carriacou currently depend on the harvesting of rainwater to meet their water needs.