Private island vacations offer guests untold pleasures, but the islands themselves are not always well prepared for providing essential services. Electricity and water are key – both in enabling resort guests to enjoy their stay, but also as a measure of an island’s commitment to sustainable practices.
Generally, islands get electricity through generators that burn fossil fuels (petroleum or diesel) to produce the energy needed for lighting and heating. Some islands have a geothermal power source, but most have to rely on the traditional fossil fuels. Islanders get their water from onsite water systems or via shared water treatment plants (typically through reverse osmosis). The problem is that islands are often remote and dependent on expensive deliveries of fuels and water.
This is why the luxury resorts that operate on private islands are seeking to create energy and water self-sufficiency. In addition to limiting their carbon footprint, the self-sufficiency of these facilities improves guests’ experience on the island and can attract more visitors.
The first step is to establish a reliable power source. For many islands that means converting to renewables. One such example is Roatan Electric Company, an island utility on Roatan in the eastern Caribbean that serves 40,000 residents and travelers. RECO began a project to upgrade its energy infrastructure several years ago, with the goal of increasing the proportion of energy that comes from renewable sources.
But to be fully independent of the mainland power grid, the company needed to create a microgrid. It considered a number of options, including microturbines – refrigerator-sized devices that burn fuel to generate electricity. The company found that a solar microgrid penciled out as the most cost-effective solution, though there were still challenges.
One big challenge is to store the intermittent energy generated by the solar panels. Lithium batteries were considered but weren’t appropriate for the project because of their cost and limited life spans. Eventually, the company settled on supercapacitors made by New York-based Kilowatt Labs – electronic devices that can absorb and release energy at a high rate without degrading.
The system will consist of two shipping-container-size units that hold one megawatt-hour of storage, enough to cover about a third of the island’s current electricity needs. The units will be connected to the solar panels, a cogeneration unit, and a power management system that channels energy to and from the microgrid.
This system will help RECO meet its goal of increasing the percentage of renewables in its mix to 20% by 2021. It will also enable the company to use its existing wind capacity to the fullest extent possible. As the demand for renewables in the island market grows, the ability to supply them will become more important. And as companies like Wartsila continue to develop smart energy storage and controls, they will provide an ever-increasing range of solutions for energy management on islands. This includes power generation, storage, and transmission, as well as intelligent grid control and integration.