Senate Finance Committee OKs leases for wind power company

ST. CROIX — Efforts to amp up renewable energy production in the Virgin Islands bore fruit on Monday after the Senate Finance Committee approved two lease agreements between the government and Texas-based wind energy provider Advance Power.

Senate President Novelle Francis Jr. introduced the two measures, which were sent down to the Legislature at the request of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., and said the agreements were part of an ongoing effort to create alternative and renewable energy sources to support the V.I. Water and Power Authority.

If approved by the full body, the company will have 25-year leases for tracts of land on Bovoni Point in St. Thomas and directly east of the refinery in St. Croix. The areas would be leased to Advance Power for $48,000 per year, respectively.

Joel Hart, Advance Power’s chief executive officer, told lawmakers that the two projects are expected to provide approximately 23% of the territory’s total annual power consumption and, at the same time, reduce fossil fuel consumption by about 23.5 million gallons per year.