Lighting the Way for Sustainable Tourism: Solar Streetlights

---

October 13, 2023

St. Kitts and Nevis have become leaders in the Caribbean embracing sustainable tourism - benefiting islanders and tourists while preserving natural resources.

By tapping into the resourceful islands’ unlimited clean energy source, implementation of a more sustainable and safer efficient energy source with the use of solar streetlights has been an excellent sustainable alternative to traditional streetlights.

This initiative began in 2013 in St. Kitts. By reducing their reliance on fossil fuel, St. Kitts and Nevis and Jamaica are doing their part to harness renewable energy helping to make the vision of being green islands a reality.

The solar streetlights also have enabled governments to support security, transportation and night life activities impacting locals and visitors in meaningful and safer ways. 

Before the initiative, the per capita electricity consumption of St. Kitts and Nevis was approximately 20 percent higher than the Latin American and Caribbean average. In 2011, the national fuel bill in St. Kitts and Nevis represented as much as 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), whereas electricity-related fuel imports were equivalent to about eight percent of GDP. By 2013, an estimated 87 percent of the total energy supply was imported.

By 2016, the solar streetlight initiative decreased greenhouse gas emissions from street lighting by 53 percent per year and reduced the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis' street and flood lighting electricity bill by 44 percent. 

Approximately 10,650 streetlights with LED lamps across the dual-island nation were replaced and retrofitted and the project aimed to install 5,550 LED lamps in St. Kitts and 5,100 in Nevis. 

This initiative benefits guests and residents who prefer sustainable tourism. Residents share that there were no lights in areas for several years and that the solar streetlights could not have come at a better time. “To me it’s a benefit to the communities where the lights have been installed because before the lights there were extremely dark spots,” a local resident said.

Nevis, the smaller island in the twin-island federation, is also a leader in sustainable travel generating clean and efficient energy and reducing energy costs, despite its small geographic and population size.

In 2018, the tourism industry contributed more than 25% of St. Kitts GDP and supported one in four jobs. One way or another, every Kittitian is connected to tourism. Sustainable travel is on the rise and St. Kitts and Nevis are lighting the way for other islands.  

In the Caribbean, tourism is everyone’s business. Communities, governmental agencies, NGOs, visitors, and the tourism industry all play a role in stewarding these beautiful destinations and safeguarding their local assets. 

Cited Resource:

Brown, Desmond. "Solar Streetlights Light the Way Toward Green Energy in Caribbean." Global Issues, 2 Feb. 2013, www.globalissues.org/news/2013/02/02/15789. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.