Minister Williams recently made public statements via Social Media regarding the Carriacou Solar PV Hybrid/Battery Storage Plant project that contained multiple misleading and false claims. These statements fail to present the full facts and timeline of this project’s development.

The project was first announced in January 2018 based on a United Arab Emirates (UAE) grant secured by the previous NNP administration. Significant progress was made over the following three years in securing land, getting utility commitments for grid interconnection, evaluating international tenders, and preparing for construction. The key milestones and timeline are as follows:

• January 2018: Project announced with UAE-CREF grant of USD $3.2 million
• 2018-2020: Previous NNP government secures land, gets utility commitment, issues RFP, and evaluates bids over 2+ years
• 2020- COVID-19
• 2021 The project was scheduled to begin construction, however, a commitment was needed from Grenlec to interconnect the project to the Grid in Carriacou which was a precondition of the grant from the UAE was never given despite being requested since 2018.
• February 2021-With the Government repurchase of majority Shares in Grenlec, the commitment to interconnect the project was secured.
• July 2022: NDC takes office and the project sits idle with no explanation.

Minister Williams’ statement gives the misleading impression that no progress was made on implementing this project over four years under the NNP. However, the facts clearly show significant strides were taken to develop the project up until the point of awarding a construction contract.

The current NDC administration provides no sensible explanation for why this “shovel-ready” project sat untouched for over a year after they took office. Only recently did they finally restart development and begin construction.

In summary, Minister Williams’ statements distort the truth and fail to acknowledge over three years of important groundwork by the New National Party administration that brought this project to the verge of implementation. We denounce this version of events as reckless and misleading and call on Minister Williams to retract these false statements.

The NNP fully supports the opening of this significant solar facility, but we must do so based on truth rather than misleading claims for political gain. The people of Carriacou deserve no less.